Senate Hearing, 113TH Congress - Hearing On Pending Benefits Legislation

S. HRG.
113111
HEARING ON PENDING BENEFITS LEGISLATION
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
JUNE 12, 2013
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

BERNARD SANDERS, (I) Vermont, Chairman
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina, Ranking
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia
PATTY MURRAY, Washington
Member
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
JON TESTER, Montana
MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska
MARK BEGICH, Alaska
JERRY MORAN, Kansas
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
MAZIE HIRONO, Hawaii
DEAN HELLER, Nevada
STEVE ROBERTSON, Staff Director
LUPE WISSEL, Republican Staff Director
(II)
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C O N T E N T S
JUNE 12, 2013
SENATORS
Page
Sanders, Hon. Bernard, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Vermont ........................ 1,

Tester, Hon. Jon, U.S. Senator from Montana ......................................................
Heller, Hon. Dean, U.S. Senator from Nevada .....................................................
Begich, Hon. Mark, U.S. Senator from Alaska .....................................................
Boozman, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from Arkansas ..............................................
Prepared statement ..........................................................................................
Blumenthal, Hon. Richard, U.S. Senator from Connecticut ................................
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WITNESSES
Schatz, Hon. Brian, U.S. Senator from Hawaii .....................................................
Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, U.S. Senator from Alaska ................................................
Franken, Hon. Al, U.S. Senator from Minnesota ..................................................
Wyden, Hon. Ron, U.S. Senator from Oregon .......................................................
Merkley, Hon. Jeff, U.S. Senator from Oregon .....................................................
Shaheen, Hon. Jeanne, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire ................................
Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity, Veterans
Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; accompanied
by Thomas Murphy, Director, Compensation Service; Richard Hipolit,
Assistant General Counsel; and John Brizzi, Deputy Assistant General
Counsel ..................................................................................................................
Additional views ...............................................................................................
Posthearing questions submitted by:
Hon. Bernard Sanders ..................................................................................
Hon. Richard Burr ........................................................................................
Hon. Jon Tester .............................................................................................
Hon. Mark Begich .........................................................................................
Response to request arising during the hearing by:
Hon. Richard Blumenthal ............................................................................
Hon. John Boozman ......................................................................................
Hon. Mark Begich .........................................................................................
Hall, Jeffrey, Assistant National Legislative Director, Disabled American
Veterans ................................................................................................................
de Planque, Ian, Deputy Legislative Director, The American Legion .................
Norton, Col. Robert F., USA (Ret.), Deputy Director, Government Relations,
Military Officers Association of America ............................................................
Gallucci, Ryan, Deputy Director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of
Foreign Wars ........................................................................................................
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APPENDIX
Isakson, Hon. Johnny, U.S. Senator from Georgia; prepared statement ............
Hirono, Hon. Mazie K., U.S. Senator from Hawaii; prepared statement ............
Reid, Hon. Harry, U.S. Senator from Nevada; prepared statement ....................
(III)
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IV
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Butterfield, Hon. G.K., U.S. Congressman from North Carolina; prepared

statement ..............................................................................................................
Howard, Dr. Muriel A., President, American Association of State Colleges
and Universities; prepared statement ................................................................
Cleland, Max, Secretary, American Battle Monuments Commission; prepared
statement ..............................................................................................................
Ganio, Patrick, Sr., President; Franco Arcebal, Vice PresidentMembership;
and Eric Lachica, Executive Director, American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, Inc.; letter ..................................................................................................
Murphy, Laura W., Director; Vania Leveille, Senior Legislative Counsel; and
Elayne Weiss, Legislative Assistant, Washington Legislative Office, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); prepared statement ..................................
American Civil Liberties Union and Other Groups; joint letter ..........................
American Chemical Society; prepared statement .................................................
American Federation of Government Employees, AFLCIO and the AFGE
National VA Council; prepared statement .........................................................
Peters, Stephen, President, American Military Partner Association; prepared
statement ..............................................................................................................
Garrett, Maggie, Legislative Director, Americans United For Separation of
Church and State; prepared statement ..............................................................
Association of the United States Navy; letter .......................................................
U.S. Department of Defense; prepared statement ................................................
Won Pat, Judith T., Ed.D., Office of the Speaker, 32nd Guam Legislature;
letter ......................................................................................................................
Attachments ......................................................................................................
Gaddy, Rev. Dr. C. Welton, President, Interfaith Alliance; letter .......................
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America; prepared statement ........................
Smith, Philip, National Liaison & Washington, DC, Director, Lao Veterans
of America; letter .................................................................................................
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc.; letter .......................................
Attachments ......................................................................................................
Levins, Scott, Director, National Personnel Records Center, National Archives
and Records Administration; prepared statement ............................................
National Governors Association; prepared statement ..........................................
Attachments ......................................................................................................
Duffy, Peter J., COL., US Army (Ret.), Legislative Director, National Guard
Association of the United States; prepared statement ......................................
Bailey, Angela, Associate Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management,
Employee Services, and Chief Human Capital Officer; prepared statement ..
Lerner, Carolyn N., Special Counsel, U.S. Office of Special Counsel; prepared
statement ..............................................................................................................
Paralyzed Veterans of America; prepared statement ...........................................
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; prepared statement ......................
Reserve Officers Association of the United States and Reserve Enlisted Association of the United States; prepared statement .............................................
Colvin, Carolyn W., Acting Commissioner, Social Security Administration;
prepared statement ..............................................................................................
Dakduk, Michael, Executive Director, Student Veterans of America; prepared
statement ..............................................................................................................
Service Womens Action Network; prepared statement ........................................
Huebner, Charlie, Chief of Paralympics, United States Olympic Committee;
prepared statement ..............................................................................................
Exhibit A ...........................................................................................................
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HEARING ON PENDING BENEFITS

LEGISLATION
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2013
U.S. SENATE,
VETERANS AFFAIRS,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in room
418, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Bernard Sanders, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Sanders, Tester, Begich, Blumenthal, Boozman
and Heller.
COMMITTEE
ON
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BERNARD SANDERS,

CHAIRMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM VERMONT
Chairman SANDERS. Good morning. We are going to begin this

important hearing dealing with legislation for benefits for our veterans. We are going to be hearing, I suspect, from a number of
Members of the Committee this morning, and we are very pleased
to have a number of Senators who are not on this Committee who
understand the importance of the issues that we are dealing with
and have brought forth their own legislation. We are very delighted
that they are here as well.
So, without further ado, we want to welcome Senator Schatz,
Senator Murkowski, Senator Franken, and Senator Wyden. Senator Schatz, can we begin with you?
STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN SCHATZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII
Senator SCHATZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Tester,

for this opportunity to speak in support of S. 690, the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2013, which I introduced on the anniversary
of the Bataan Death March. I want to thank Senators Murkowski,
Begich, and Hirono for cosponsoring this critical legislation.
I want to especially acknowledge the Justice for Filipino American Veterans, the Japanese American Citizens League, the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, and the Lao Veterans of America for their support of this vital legislation.
Its important because it would provide the Filipino soldiers who
fought with the American Army during World War II with the full
veterans benefits that they rightfully deserve and it will send a
clear message to all veterans that Americans will not forget their
service once they return from combat.
(1)
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More than 200,000 soldiers fought in the Pacific Theater, of Filipino descent, and more than half of them were killed while they
served under the command of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The Philippines was a United States territory before and during
World War II, and President Roosevelt issued an executive order
to call into service Filipino soldiers to defend American territory
and military bases.
These soldiers served our Nation so we owe them nothing less
than honoring their service with the full benefits that they were
promised and deserved.
This Act would do four things. First, under current law, there are
four different categories of Filipino soldiers who fought with the
U.S. Army. This bill will eliminate these categories and treat everyone equally.
After the war, Congress passed a series of laws that became
known as the Recession Acts of 1946 and they stripped many of
these Filipino soldiers of the benefits that they had earned. Instead, these Filipino soldiers were split into four different administrative categories, each group being awarded different benefits.
While all four groups served in the same war and under the
same American flag, one of the groups gets full veterans status
and benefits while the other three groups were denied some of
these same benefits.
Second, it extends veteran benefits eligibility to Filipino veterans
who received payment from the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund, which was created in the 2009 American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act.
Third, the bill directs the Veterans Administration to allow the
use of alternative documentation when determining eligibility to
ensure that all Filipino veterans are recognized for their service.
Under the current law, in order for Filipino veterans to be eligible for benefits, they must be on the Approved, Revised, Reconstructed Guerrilla Roster of 1948 known as the Missouri List. This
list is critical for determining benefits eligibility; but even if there
are other forms of documentation, Filipino veterans not on this list
will not be recognized for their service.
But, this list does not include every Filipino veterans because it
was damaged in a fire in 1973 and the reconstructed list is being
currently used to determine benefits eligibility.
In addition, because the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation
Fund used the Missouri List as the sole basis for eligibility determination, 24,000 Filipino veterans were denied compensation.
Finally, this bill would allow widows and dependents to be eligible for dependency and indemnity compensation and would eliminate the differences in payment given to veterans based on whether a Filipino veteran lived in the United States or in the
Philippines.
It has been more than 50 years and yet many Filipino veterans
have not been recognized as veterans and have been denied their
basic rights. Unfortunately, many Filipino veterans are in their 90s
and are passing away rapidly, and so, we must act now.
Thank you, Chairman Sanders, for taking up this legislation. I
look forward to working with everyone on the Committee to give
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the Filipino veterans their full recognition for their service and
their sacrifice.
Chairman SANDERS. Senator Schatz, thank you very much.
Senator Murkowski.
STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
Senator MURKOWSKI. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Thank you for

your leadership on veterans issues, particularly for ensuring that
our veterans receive the benefits that they so clearly deserve. We
honor them by keeping our commitments. So, your hearing today
is very important.
To you and the Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to present my bill this morning which would authorize
the interment of Hmong veterans in national cemeteries.
Across our Nation thousands and thousands of U.S. citizens that
fought for our country during Vietnam are not officially recognized
for their service. Members of the Hmong community that fought
under the CIA during Vietnam currently enjoy no rights as veterans. They are simply requesting to be buried and recognized in
the national cemeteries. This bill would authorize those heroes to
rest alongside their brothers in arms on our Nations most hallowed grounds.
A little bit of background here. Responding to a secretive call to
arms during the Vietnam war, Hmong soldiers aided U.S. Special
Forces and CIA operatives. They guarded bases that no one was
supposed to know was there. They rescued downed U.S. airman
who also were not supposed to be there.
Americans who served and fought and put their lives on the line
receive a resting place in our national cemeteries and the men who
saved American lives deserve the same honor.
The Hmong people were a social minority being persecuted by
communists within Laos. President Kennedy first initiated the U.S.
alliance with Laos and the Hmong people in defense of the Kingdom of Laos and the U.S. national security interests in Vietnam
and Southeast Asia.
During the Vietnam War, Hmong soldiers served in what was
called the U.S. Secret Army. The Hmong fighters were led by General Vang Pao during The Secret War which interrupted operations
on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and conducted downed aircraft recovery
operations of American airman within Laos.
Over the course of the war, the CIA employed tens of thousands
of these volunteers. In all, over 100,000 Hmong lost their lives by
the end of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
According to a recently declassified CIA report, the Hmong became the core of an irregular force that fought the North Vietnamese Army. Hmong soldiers saved thousands of American soldiers from being attacked and killed in South Vietnam by engaging
numerous North Vietnamese army units in combat.
Two years after the withdrawal of American forces, the Kingdom
of Laos was overthrown by communist troops supported by North
Vietnamese. Hmong were forced into re-education camps. Many
fled into hiding in the mountains or to refugee camps in Thailand.
Several thousand sought asylum internationally with thousands
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making their way here to the United States. Senator Franken and
I were just discussing that in Minnesota there is a large Hmong
population, in Alaska as well.
Many soldiers who fought for the CIA and their families were
among the refugees that became U.S. citizens. There are currently
over 260,000 Hmong people in America. In Anchorage, AK, we have
about 5,000 Hmong refugees there. Senator Begich clearly knows
the importance of them as an addition to our community. Of the
Hmong who became U.S. citizens, there are approximately 6,900
veterans that are still with us today. The number, of course, is
dwindling by the day. The Hmong fighters sacrifice on behalf of
America calls for reciprocal honor paid during the latter years of
these veterans lives. Hmong veterans fought for America and deserve the choice to be buried in national cemeteries.
Mr. Chairman, this concept is not unprecedented. Just as the
Hmong responded to the call to arms and paid the ultimate sacrifice, so did the Filipino soldiers as my friend Senator Schatz said.
Our country has long been grateful for their service, their sacrifice,
and we passed legislation to honor those veterans providing burial
rites and compensation.
The Hmong Veterans Naturalization Act of 2000 provided naturalization benefits for Hmong veterans. It was designed to ease the
path to naturalization in various ways for the Hmong. Ultimately,
Immigration and Naturalization provided multiple avenues
through which Hmong veterans could prove their service. We have
got about 6,000 Hmong that self-identified as veterans by providing
original documents, an affidavit of the serving persons superior officer or two affidavits from other individuals who were also serving
with a special guerrilla unit.
For years Congress has publicly recognized the thousands of
Hmong that fought and died for our country. I believe that providing burial rights to the small number of Hmong veterans remaining that fought for America is the least that we can do to
honor their service.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Senator Murkowski follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF
HON. LISA MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATOR
FROM
ALASKA
S. 200A
BILL TO AUTHORIZE THE INTERMENT IN NATIONAL CEMETERIES UNDER THE

CONTROL OF THE NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION OF INDIVIDUALS WHO
SERVED IN COMBAT SUPPORT OF THE ARMED FORCES IN THE KINGDOM OF LAOS
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, Distinguished Members of the Senate

Veterans Affairs Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to present my bill, to
authorize the interment of Hmong veterans in national cemeteries, before the Committee. Across our Nation, thousands of US citizens that fought for our country during Vietnam are not officially recognized for their service. Members of the Hmong
community that fought under the CIA during Vietnam currently enjoy no rights as
veterans. They are requesting to be buried in national cemeteries. This bill would
authorize those heroes to rest alongside their brothers-in-arms on our Nations most
hallowed grounds.
A few weeks ago at Arlington National Cemetery, a group of old Hmong veterans
stood at ragged attention on burial grounds that are closed to them, despite their
military service to our Nation. Responding to a secretive call to arms during the
Vietnam War, Hmong soldiers aided U.S. special forces and CIA operatives. They
guarded bases that no one was supposed to know about, and rescued downed U.S.
airmen who werent supposed to be there. Americans who served and fought and
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put their lives on the line receive a resting place in our national cemeteries; the
men who saved American lives deserve the same honor.
During the Vietnam War, Laotian and Hmong soldiers served in the U.S. Secret
Army. Over the course of the war, the CIA employed tens of thousands of these
volunteers. The Hmong people were a social minority in the country that was being
persecuted by the Pathet Lao within Laos (the Laotian equivalent to the Vietnamese
Communists). President John F. Kennedy first initiated the U.S. alliance with the
Lao and Hmong people in defense of the Kingdom of Laos and U.S. national security
interests in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. These Lao-Hmong soldiers were clandestinely organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and
the Pentagon to combat the invasion of the Kingdom of Laos by the North Vietnams
Army (NVA) and an insurgency of communist Pathet Lao guerrillas.
The Hmong fighters were led by General Vang Pao during the Secret War which
interrupted operations on the Ho Chi Minh trail and assisted in downed aircraft recovery operations of American airmen within Laos.
According to a recently declassified CIA report, the Hmong became the core of an
irregular force that fought the North Vietnamese Army until February 1973, when
a Laotian cease-fire followed the agreement with Hanoi on terms to end the war
in South Vietnam. Under their charismatic, mercurial leader Vang Pao, the Meo
more properly known as the Hmongevolved from a hit-and-run guerilla outfit into
light infantry operating in regimental strength. Expanded Hmong forces * * * diverted substantial North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam. The Hmong showed
courage, [a] capacity [to] take losses, the ability to survive despite hardships and
meager rations, and a considerable instinct and enthusiasm for ambushing and
harassing. 1
In order to highlight the unique manner in which America called upon the
Hmong, it is important to understand that the CIAs clandestine airline, Air America, flew cash-payroll flights to support, pay and expand the elite Lao and Hmong
secret army based at Long Chieng. From there, the Lao Hmong covert army engaged in strategic battles against main-force [North Vietnamese Army] divisions
and communist insurgents. Lao and Hmong Special Forces saved thousands of
American soldiers from being attacked and killed in South Vietnam by engaging numerous [North Vietnamese Army] units in combat and playing a key role with the
U.S. bombing campaign of enemy supply routes and targets on the Ho Chi Minh
Trail, Plaine des Jarres and elsewhere.2
Two years after the withdrawal of American forces, the Kingdom of Laos was
overthrown by communist troops supported by the North Vietnamese Army. The
Pathet Lao then continued their persecution of the Hmong by placing them into reeducation camps where political prisoners served terms of 35 years. Many fled into
hiding in the mountains or to refugee camps in Thailand. Several thousand sought
asylum internationally with many making their way to the United States.
Some of the soldiers who fought for the CIA and their families were among the
refugees. Some settled within the borders of other nations; some became US citizens. There are currently over 260,000 Hmong people in America; according to the
2010 Census, the heaviest concentrations are in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
North Carolina, Michigan, Colorado, Georgia, Alaska, Oklahoma and Oregon. Within Anchorage alone are approximately 5,000 Hmong refugees. Of the Hmong who
became US Citizens, there are approximately 6,900 veterans still with us today. Of
note, nearly half of those veterans live in Minnesota.
Today, the number of Hmong veterans in America is dwindling by the day. As
described by the Washington, DC. Director and Liaison for the Lao Veterans of
America, Inc., Philip Smith: Many Lao and Hmong-American veterans, who served
in Americas covert theatre of operations during the Vietnam War, are dying in
Rhode Island and across the United States, without the benefit of being recognized
or honored for their extraordinary military service. Having saved the lives of many
U.S. soldiers and aircrews, these forgotten veterans deserve to be buried with dignity at U.S. national veterans cemeteries, with military honors, for their unique
service as part of the U.S. Secret Army defending U.S. national security interests
and the Kingdom of Laos during the Vietnam conflict. In all, over 30,000 Hmong
lost their lives by the end of US involvement in Vietnam. The Hmong fighters sacrifice on behalf of America calls for reciprocal honor paid during the latter years of
these veterans lives.
Hmong veterans fought for America and deserve the choice to be buried in national cemeteries. This concept is not unprecedented. Just as the Hmong responded
1 Undercover
Armies: CIA and Surrogate Warfare in Laos

Smith, Director of Center for Public Policy Analysis, the Lao Veterans of America,
Inc., Lao Veterans of America Institute.
2 Philip
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to the call to arms and many paid the ultimate sacrifice, so did Filipino soldiers.
Our country has long been grateful for their service and passed legislation to honor
those veterans. The Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2000
permits Philippine veterans who were citizens of the United States or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence who served during World War II to be buried in national cemeteries. Another 2000 law provided full-dollar rate compensation
payments to veterans of the Commonwealth Army or recognized guerrilla forces residing in the U.S. if they are either U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent
resident aliens.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which the President
signed into law, contained a provision creating the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund. Eligible veterans who are U.S. citizens receive a one-time payment
of $15,000. The law also provides for eligible veterans who are not U.S. citizens to
receive a one-time payment of $9,000. The Department of Veterans Affairs established a process, in collaboration with the Department of Defense, to determine eligibility to receive payments from the Fund. As of last month, the Administration
had approved over 18,000 claims.
Additionally, there has been legislation passed that provided naturalization benefits for Hmong veterans. The Hmong Veterans Naturalization Act of 2000 provided
an exemption from the English language requirement and special consideration for
civics testing for certain refugees from Laos applying for naturalization. The legislation was designed to ease the path to naturalization in various ways for Hmong
individuals who had fought in the CIA-organized guerrilla units in Laos. The law
applies to refugees from Laos who served with a special guerrilla unit, or irregular
forces, operating from a base in Laos in support of the United States military at
any time during February 28, 1961 through September 18, 1978 and who entered
the United States as refugees from Laos.
Leading up to the passage of the law, there were Congressional concerns related
to difficulties in identifying which Hmong refugees actually fought on behalf of the
United States as few records were kept of these covert operations. 3 Following the
Committee hearings of H.R. 371 in June 1997, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) provided technical assistance in redrafting the bill to: (1) tighten the
documentation requirements; (2) require the Department of Defense to review the
documentation; and (3) require the Department of Defense to advise the INS with
respect to the credibility of claims of service with special guerrilla units or irregular
forces. As a consequence, the Department did not object to this bill which, as revised, minimized the risk of fraud while maximizing the intended benefit [to] certain
Hmong individuals and their spouses.4
Within the Committee reports, there was further refining of how to determine an
aliens eligibility for benefits under the bill: the Attorney General (1) shall review
refugee processing documents to verify that an alien was admitted to the United
States as a refugee from Laos, (2) shall consider the documentation submitted by
the alien, (3) shall request an advisory opinion from the Secretary of Defense, and
(4) may consider any certification prepared by the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. or
similar organizations. 5
The Lao Veterans of America includes tens of thousands of Hmong and Lao veterans and their families who played roles in the U.S. covert war in Laos and Vietnam. It has stringent requirements for membership: first, filling out an application
and submitting to an initial interview, second determining that the prospective
member served a minimum of 1 year as a veteran and third, be certified by a former
commander or his representative, or the leader of the U.S. Secret Army in Laos,
Major General Vang Pao. Finally, the applicant must be verified by a three member
military review board appointed by the Lao Veterans of Americas Board of Directors and Advisory Board.6
Ultimately, the Immigration and Naturalization Service provided multiple avenues through which Hmong veterans could prove their service. First, if an applicant
testified to this military service at the time of refugee processing, the required documentation should already be in the applicants immigration file. If not, applicants
could provide original documents; an affidavit of the serving persons superior officer; two affidavits from other individuals who also were serving with such a special
guerrilla unit, or irregular forces, and who personally know of the persons service;
or other appropriate proof.
3 House
Report 106563Hmong Veterans Naturalization Act of 2000.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
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Congress has publically recognized the Hmong veterans service to our Nation, but
paradoxically has not allowed for burial rights in national cemeteries. In 2009, the
House recognized National Lao-Hmong Recognition Day, calling to attention to the
Hmongs service in the Vietnam War. The Resolution recognized that the United
States recruited thousands of the Lao-Hmong to fight against the Communist
Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese Army regulars in Laos and we relied heavily
on the Lao-Hmong Special Guerrilla Units to engage in direct combat with North
Vietnamese troops. Providing burial rights to the small number of Hmong veterans
remaining that fought for America is the least we can do to honor their service. This
legislation is a modest next step to honor the Hmong veterans who now live in the
US as a result of our call for their service.
Chairman SANDERS. Thank you very much Senator Murkowski.

Senator Franken.
STATEMENT OF HON. AL FRANKEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA
Senator FRANKEN. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I would like today to talk briefly about my new legislation.
First, I would like to say something about the Hmong who fought
with us in Laos.
I went to Laos in July 2010. It was on a trip that the Chairman
and I took with Senator Harkin to Vietnam. I took a little side trip
to Laos because some Hmong refugees had been illegally repatriated to Laos from Thailand.
You may know that Sheldon Whitehouse, the Senator from
Rhode Island, often saysand his father was Ambassador to
Laosthat there is a few thousand fewer American names on that
wall at the Vietnam War Memorial, because of the Hmong.
But I am here to talk about my new legislation, the Quicker Benefits Delivery Act. This piece of legislation has one simple purpose,
to enable VA to get benefits to veterans more quickly.
We are all concerned about the claims backlog, and VA is working hard to address it. The fundamental issue is that we need to
make sure veterans are getting the benefits to which they are entitled as quickly as possible. This is especially important when it
comes to our newest veterans who are still in the process of
transitioning back to civilian life. That is what my legislation will
do.
It is a pragmatic effort to make sure that VA has the tools to get
benefits into the hands of veterans as quickly as possible and uses
those tools most effectively.
I am very pleased that Congressman Tim Walz, who is also from
Minnesota and is a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has introduced companion legislation on the House side. He
and I have heard from veterans in Minnesota about these issues
and we owe several of the proposed solutions to suggestions from
VSOs, Veterans Service Organizations, including testimony before
your Committee.
My bill would get benefits into the hands of veterans more quickly in three ways. First, my bill would expand VAs use of non-VA
medical evidence, medical examinations, and medical opinions in
the claims process. That private medical evidence could only be
used where it is competent, credible, and probative, in other words,
fully adequate for helping to decide a veterans claim.
VA is already making use of non-VA medical evidence, but my
legislation would shift the burden a little bit more to VA so that
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VA has to make the case for why it would not use a non-VA medical examination to assess a veterans claim.
Not only would veterans who submit such evidence receive their
benefits more quickly under my bill, it would also free up VA resources so that more veterans who do need VA medical examinations would also get their claims decided more quickly.
Second, my bill would expand VAs authorities to rapidly provide
a veteran with provisional benefits when there is enough evidence
to warrant it even if VA has not yet made the final determination
about the veterans disability and compensation. This would be
done through what are called pre-stabilization ratings which are
for our newest veterans who may not yet have fully recovered from
their injuries.
My bill would also expand VAs ability and its responsibility to
give out a temporary minimum disability rating to a veteran where
that is appropriate but where VA has not yet been able to make
a final determination about all of the veterans claims. In fact, the
VA recently announced that it was going to do just that with respect to the oldest claims in the backlog.
The purpose here is to make sure that veterans and their families can start getting benefits as soon as it is clear they are entitled
to. Those veterans are then effectively not part of the backlog since
they are getting benefits, and my legislation would clarify that.
Finally, my legislation addresses an issue we hear a lot about
from veterans who have become students and are making use of
the GI Bill benefits. Those student veterans have to wait until the
first of a given month to receive their housing benefits for the previous month. That does not make a whole lot of sense to me, but
my understanding is that VA needs the explicit authority to provide such benefits before the first day of the month, and my legislation makes that clarification.
Of course, my legislation by itself will not solve the claims backlog issue; but in significant ways, it will provide the VA with some
tools to help it address this fundamental issue of making sure our
veterans get the benefits that they have earned as quickly as
possible.
As this legislation moves forward, I continue to welcome any and
all suggestions for how it might be refined and improved to accomplish this important purpose.
Thank you for your consideration.
I am sorry but now I have to excuse myself because I need to
go to the Health Committee where we are doing the markup of the
ESCA bill, and I see Senator Murkowski has preceded me in leaving for that room.
So, I appreciate your attention and hope you have a good hearing. Thank you.
Chairman SANDERS. Thank you very much Senator Franken.
Senator Wyden.
STATEMENT OF HON. RON WYDEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM OREGON
Senator WYDEN. Thank you very much, Chairman Sanders and

Senator Heller, for having me today. I can see you have lots of colleagues.
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The bill that I am going to discuss today is S. 748 and it is the
product of a long-standing and bipartisan partnership that this
Committee has had with the Special Committee on Aging, particularly on issues relating to the rights of older veterans.
The legislation that I offer today with Senator Burrwe have
worked on this for many, many monthsrevolves around the fact
that last June the Senate Special Committee on Aging held an investigative hearing on scams that target older veterans using a
specific VA pension, in effect, to lure in the veteran.
What the Aging Committee foundwe actually had an undercover investigation that was again at the request of a bipartisan
group of Senatorswhat we found is that there are a number of
financial planners, lawyers, and others who use the VAs enhanced
pensionand this is the pension for the most vulnerable of our
older veterans, the most vulnerable of the low-income veterans.
It is called the enhanced pension with aide and attendance, and
they essentially use [knowledge of] this pension to kind of lure the
older veteran into a variety of arrangements with trusts and annuities; and the poacher gets these, you know, large fees and very
often the older veterans end up with virtually nothing. They do not
have their aide and attendance; they are just completely ripped off.
So, the General Accounting Office, after the undercover investigation, recommended to the Congress that there be a look-back
period similar to Medicare and Medicaid so that we could achieve
two objectives: one, take away the ability of these ripoff artists, the
pension imposter, to target the low income, older veteran; and two,
make sure that we preserve this critical benefit for the many veterans who need it.
So, Senator Burr and I have worked with the advocacy groups
for veterans and with the VA itself; and the heart of the legislation
is to offer this kind of look-back. I think with the bipartisan support we havewe worked with the VA to make sure this would not
contribute to the backlog volumewe now have legislation that we
believe is ready for the Committees consideration.
I am also appreciative of the Assisted Living Federation of America writing to the Committee supporting the legislation and pledging that their industry wants to also figure out a way to drain the
swamp.
Mr. Chairman, you and I talked about this back in the days
when I had a full head of hair and rugged good looks. I was the
co-director of the Gray Panthers.
Chairman SANDERS. I would not go that far.
Senator WYDEN. All right. Fair enough. [Laughter.]
I have seen a lot of scams and this Committee has as well. This
is one of the most outrageous. Senator Burr and I hope that we can
move forward expeditiously, and we very much appreciate your
consideration.
I, too, am going to have to go but I am very grateful to be able
to work with the Committee.
Chairman SANDERS. Senator Wyden, thanks very much.
Senator Merkley.
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STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF MERKLEY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM OREGON
Senator MERKLEY. Thank you very much, Chairman Sanders and

Members of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce you to Senate Bill 1039, the Spouses of Heroes Education Act
of 2013.
This bill is cosponsored by Senator Heller. Senator, thank you
very much. It addresses the needs of spouses of our fallen heroes
in the armed services. The Spouses of Heroes Education Act would
grant post-9/11 era widows and widowers the same educational
benefits that Congress has authorized for their children under the
Gunnery Sergeant John D. Fry Scholarship Program through the
post-9/11 GI Bill. At age 18, these children can attend any public
college tuition free and receive a housing allowance and an annual
book stipend.
Surviving spouses of the current conflicts, however, are left with
far less generous benefits. They have access only to the limited
Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance, DEA benefits.
DEA pays only $987 per month for full-time study with no support
for housing or books; and it is very difficult for surviving spouses,
especially those with children, to afford college or job training
under the DEA program.
I want to thank veteran Robert Thornhill of Central Oregon, who
came to one of my town halls and pointed this out. Quite frankly,
I was surprised to find that we did not treat spouses in the same
way as the children.
And a special thanks to Army Colonel retired Bob Norton of the
Military Officers Association of America, who has helped to give
feedback and thoughts and circulation to this legislation.
This bill would provide the new GI Bill benefits to the spouses
of those servicemembers who made the ultimate sacrifice to their
Nation. By opting to receive the Fry Scholarship, spouses would
forgo other GI Bill benefits related to education, such as DEA. The
scholarship benefits would expire after a period of 15 years.
We must remember that the spouses of our fallen heroes were
often left to raise young children as a single parent. These children
may not be eligible to use the Fry Scholarship to help with college
expenses for many years, but in the meantime, the parents should
have the opportunity to go back to school and prepare for a wellpaying job that can support his or her family.
The bill is endorsed by the Military Officers Association of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the National Guard Association
of the United States, Vietnam Veterans of America, the American
Legion, and Iraqi and Afghanistan Veterans of America. It is endorsed by the Air Force Sergeants Association, the Military Order
of the Purple Heart, AMVETS, and Student Veterans of America.
In addition, the Veterans Legislative Committee of the Military
Coalition, a group comprised of 33 organizations representing more
than 5.5 million members of the uniform services and their families
have endorsed this goal of providing surviving spouses with the
same educational benefits to which the children are entitled.
Our Nation owes an enormous debt of gratitude to our fallen and
their family members. Our servicemembers have made extraordinary sacrifices, and we must never forget that their families have
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sacrificed alongside them. We can never repay the sacrificed to a
fallen heros spouse but we can honor them by ensuring they have
the tools they need to go back to school and provide a foundation
for their family.
Our veterans and our veterans families have stood up for our
Nation abroad and we need to stand up for them here at home.
I look forward to working with Senator Heller and the Committee to move this bill forward.
Thank you.
Chairman SANDERS. Senator Merkley, thank you very much.
Senator Shaheen.
STATEMENT OF HON. JEANNE SHAHEEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE
Senator SHAHEEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Senator

Heller, Senators Tester and Begich. I very much appreciate the opportunity to appear before you to talk about two pieces of legislation that I have introduced.
The first is the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act, which I introduced along with Senator Gillibrand back
in February. This bill would address ongoing discrimination
against gay and lesbian members of the military and their families.
In particular, it would make a number of critical benefits including TRICARE Access, VA survivor benefits, and travel and transportation allowances available to all military spouses regardless of
sexual orientation. That is not the case now despite the repeal of
Dont Ask Dont Tell.
Even if the Defense of Marriage Act is overturned by the Supreme Court, legislation like the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses
Act would likely still be necessary to help ensure equality in military and veterans benefits for all of our Nations military spouses.
Now, I am not going to go into the details of this legislation because I know you will do that in Committee but I did want to just
say a few words about the woman who the bill is named after,
Charlie Morgan.
She was a New Hampshire National Guard chief warrant officer
who very sadly passed away earlier this year after a courageous
battle with breast cancer.
Charlie enlisted in the Army in 1982 in Kentucky. She served in
the regular army. After getting out, rejoined the New Hampshire
National Guard after September 11 because she was so moved by
the need to again serve this country after those terrorist attacks.
She served a year in deployment in Kuwait and served very honorably despite having to keep her personal life secret from all of
her fellow soldiers.
Charlie and her wife Karen were not able to take advantage of
many of the support programs that were so essential and are so essential to the health and well-being of our military families.
After she was diagnosed with breast cancer, the issue of benefits
for her family became very personal, and unfortunately she is not
going to be able to see their final day in court despite having joined
the challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, but I introduced this
bill to honor her memory and because every individual, regardless
of their sexual orientation, who provides for our defense deserves
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the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their family is
going to be taken care of when something happens to them.
Now, the second piece of legislation is the Veteran Legal Services
Act, which I introduced with Senators Klobuchar and Murphy. I
know that you all have been working very hard to address the
backlog in our VA benefits, that goes without saying. It is a national disgrace that we have so many veterans waiting so long to
get the benefits that are due them.
This bill, I think, addresses one of the programs that, as we have
looked at it, seems to be the most effective in helping to deal with
the backlog as well as veteran homelessness: the work of our Nations law schools and their student volunteers. By counseling veterans with their disabilities claims, law students are turning incredibly complex stories and injuries into organized benefit applications that are exponentially reducing the VAs processing time for
the most complicated cases in the backlog.
There are a number of States that have legal clinics that are
working with veteransNorth Carolina, West Virginia, Connecticut, Georgia, and Ohio, to name a few. What this bill would do is
authorize the VA to coordinate more closely with these programs
to ensure that they are as productive as possible.
Again, I think it is one way to address the backlog that does not
involve a lot of Federal dollars but gets the work done for our
veterans.
So again, thank you all very much for the work that you are
doing and the opportunity to appear before you this morning.
[The prepared statement of Senator Shaheen follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JEANNE SHAHEEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, Members of the Committee, I want to
thank you for the opportunity to speak briefly about two pieces of legislation that
are before you today.
The first is the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act, which I
introduced along with Senator Gillibrand in February. The bill would address ongoing discrimination against gay and lesbian members of the military and their families. In particular, it would make a number of critical benefits, including TRICARE
access, VA survivor benefits and travel and transportation allowances available to
all military spouses, regardless of sexual orientation.
A number of important family benefits and support programs remain unavailable
to same-sex spouses under current law. Even if the Defense of Marriage Act is overturned by the Supreme Court, this bill would likely still be necessary to help ensure
equality in military and veterans benefits for all of our Nations military spouses.
I am certain the Committee will get into all of the various details on each of the
benefits affected by this legislation, but today, I want to share with you the story
of a true hero who inspired this act. The bill before you is named after Charlie Morgan, a New Hampshire National Guard Chief Warrant Officer, who sadly passed
away earlier this year after a courageous battle with breast cancer.
Charlie enlisted in the United States Army in 1982. After a brief period away,
Charlie returned to service as a member of the Kentucky National Guard in 1992.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Charlie returned for a third
time, joining the 197th Fires Brigade of the New Hampshire National Guard, a tour
that included a year-long deployment in Kuwait.
Throughout her long career of service, she shouldered the incredible burden of
keeping her life secret from her fellow soldiers. Charlie was unable to live openly
under the Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy. In addition, despite enduring the same
hardships as any other military family, Charlie and her wife, Karen, were not able
to take advantage of many of the same support programs that are so essential to
the health and well-being of military families.
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Soon after Dont Ask, Dont Tell was repealed, Charlie came out publicly and
began the fight for equal benefits for same-sex spouses, benefits she and her family
had earned as much as any other military member.
But, this was not just an abstract issue for Charlie. She was diagnosed with
breast cancer in 2011, and knew that her time was limited. Concerned for the future
well-being of her family, Charlie took aim at the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
by joining the challenge to its constitutionality in Federal court.
Unfortunately, Charlie will not be able to see her final day in court. She passed
away earlier this year. Charlie Morgan epitomized couragein her military service,
her fight for LGBT equality and in her battle with cancer.
I introduced this bill to honor Charlies memory. Every individual who provides
for our defense deserves the peace of mind that comes with knowing ones family
will be taken care of should the worst happen.
LGBT servicemembers now serve openly in our military and we depend on them
to keep us safe. Denying their legally recognized spouses equal benefits under the
law is unjustified. No one should ever again go through what Charlie and her family
had to go through. I hope my colleagues on this Committee will act quickly to address this issue by passing the Charlie Morgan Act and sending it to the floor for
consideration.
The second piece of legislation Id like to discuss is the Veterans Legal Services
Act, which I recently introduced along with Senators Klobuchar and Murphy.
No one knows better than the Members of this Committee the frustration that
we all share regarding the VAs disability claims backlog. It is a national disgrace
and one that we are all working to address. I know the Chairman has sponsored
legislation on this issue and I am grateful to him for that leadership.
Our bill would support one of the most productive efforts I have seen in recent
years to address both the backlog as well as veterans homelessness: the work of our
Nations law schools and their student volunteers.
Since 2008, more than 30 law schools in 18 states have developed clinical programs specifically to assist veterans. By counseling veterans with their disability
claims, law students are turning incredibly complex stories and injuries into organized benefits applications that are exponentially reducing VAs processing time for
the most complicated cases in the backlog.
A perfect example of these programs is the Lewis B. Puller Jr. Veterans Benefits
Clinic at William and Mary Law School. On average, students in the program provide over 70 hours of assistance per veteran, and over 330 hours of assistance per
veterans for cases involving Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic
Brain Injury (TBI). The results of their work have been outstanding. In one case,
students helped a veteran recoup over $40,000 dollars in back payments.
Many other states are developing equally successful programs including North
Carolina, West Virginia, Connecticut, Georgia, and Ohio.
Our legislation is simple. It authorizes VA to coordinate more closely with these
programs to ensure they are as productive as possible. We are hopeful that with
VAs support and guidance these programs will continue to thrive and make it easier for additional schools to follow their lead. Our goal is to eventually have a veterans legal clinic in every state.
Again, I want to thank the Committee again for the opportunity to appear here
today, for consideration of these two pieces of legislation, and for your continued
service on behalf of our Nation and its veterans.
Chairman SANDERS. Senator Shaheen, thank you very much.

As I understand it, Senator Tester, you are going to have to
make a quick exit, is that correct?
Senator TESTER. That is correct.
Chairman SANDERS. And you would like to say a few words on
a piece of legislation.
STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator TESTER. If I might, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I thank

the Chairman and, Senator Helleryou look good in that positionfor having this hearing.
I want to thank the VSOs participation in the Ruth Moore Act.
The Ruth Moore Act deals with military sexual trauma and how
the VA deals with it. In that regard, Mr. McCoy, I appreciate the
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VAs recent efforts to better adjudicate claims based on military
sexual trauma and your willingness to work with me and the Committee on this very important issue.
As we address sexual assault in the military, we must do everything we can to support the survivors of service-related trauma. A
recent Pentagon data estimate reported the number of sexual assaults in the military has increased by 35 percent over the last
2 years.
Tragically, these assaults have lasting consequences for the survivors, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and various physical
disabilities. Moreover, the female servicemembers who are sexually
assaulted are more likely to develop PTSD than their male counterparts who have experienced combat.
Establishing proof of military sexual assault, however, is very
difficult in the current system and the vast majority of these assaults go unreportedas high as 85 percent according to some
reports.
Subsequently, the veterans have a hard time meeting the burden
of proof when applying for VA benefits for disabilities linked to
military sexual trauma. The Ruth Moore Act of 2013 would bring
fairness to the VA claims process for victims of the service-related
trauma by relaxing the evidentiary area standards for MST
survivors.
Now, while I acknowledge the VAs recent efforts to improve adjudication of claims related to military sexual trauma, I think further action is necessary. The current standards are difficult, if not
impossible, to meet; and they do an injustice to veterans who have
honorably served their Nation yet suffer terrific trauma.
Now, combating sexual assaults in the military will require a
multipronged approach. No single law or policy will do this. A culture change is needed.
But as long as we work together to prevent these atrocities from
happening, we cannot forget the thousands of survivors who have
summoned up the courage and turned to the government for help.
So, we need to act on their behalf.
I just want to once again thank the Chairman for the courtesy
and look forward to further debating this bill.
Chairman SANDERS. Senator Tester, thanks very much.
CONTINUING STATEMENT OF HON. BERNARD SANDERS,
CHAIRMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM VERMONT
Chairman SANDERS. I recognize that today is a really busy day.

There are Committee hearings all over the place so people are
going to be coming and going.
What I would like to do now is get back to regular order. I want
to say a few words. I will give the mic over to Senator Heller and
then we will hear from Senator Begich and then we will bring in
our next panel.
As I think everybody will recall, earlier in the session we had the
opportunity, along with the House Veterans Committee, to hear
from all of the service organizations. I found those hearings extraordinarily helpful because we heard from veterans from all
walks of life, from different wars; and we had a very broad understanding of the needs of our veterans.
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What I pledged to do with my staff was to listen very carefully
to what the veterans organizations had to say and to do our best
to respond to all of the legitimate concerns that they raised. That
is what we are in the process of doing.
As Members will recall from a month or so ago, we had what I
thought was an excellent hearing focusing on health care issues.
The bottom line is that I believe we have a strong health care system within the VA.
With 152 medical centers and 900 CBOCs and Vet Centers all
over this country, there is no question that we can make improvements. We intend to focus on VA health care very carefully and
make those improvements.
Today, what we are focusing on are benefits issues and I thought
we heard some excellent testimony from our colleagues who are not
on this Committee. We will hear testimony and comments from
Members of this Committee who have introduced important legislation.
Let me just take a moment to give a brief overview of some of
the legislation that I have introduced. One of the issues that the
veterans community and the American people are clearly concerned
about is making sure that when young men and women return
from Iraq and Afghanistan and from the Armed Forces in general,
they are able to return to civilian life and get decent jobs.
We are recovering from a serious recession. The economy is better than it was but unemployment remains much, much too high.
So, I have introduced legislation called the Veterans Equipped for
Success Act of 2013, which I think will go a significant way forward
in providing good jobs for those men and women who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, who have been discharged from
the Armed Forces.
We have heard today, and we have heard for many, many
months, probably the major issue that veterans organizations and
I think the American people are concerned about, as Senator
Shaheen just mentioned. is to make absolutely sure that when a
veteran files a claim for benefits that that claim is processed in a
reasonable period of time.
We are all appalled that in some cases it is taking years for these
claims to be adjudicated. Secretary Shinseki has brought forth a
goal to make sure that every claim is processed within 125 days
and I believe he intends to do that by the end of 2015.
As we all know, 5 years ago there was limited discussion about
the need to do what every major corporation in America and other
government agencies have done, and that is go from a paper to a
digital system. The VA is now in the process of making that huge
transformation. We think they are making some progress but obviously they have a long way to go.
We have legislation to make sure that the very ambitious goal
of making sure that every claim is processed with 125 days and to
have that done by the end of 2015, in fact, takes place when it is
supposed to. We are going to be watching that and we have legislation that will monitor that very, very closely.
There is another piece of legislation that we have introduced
called the Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013. As we all
know, a decade of war has had a major impact on our military fam-
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ilies. Over 6,600 servicemembers have died in operations Iraqi
Freedom and Enduring Freedom, leaving behind spouses and children who relied on them.
Earlier this year, this Committee heard from the Gold Star
Wives of America about the significant challenges that survivors
continue to face such as the need for improved dependency and indemnity compensation benefits and qualification requirements.
The Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013 would address
many of these challenges, and I think we certainly owe that to the
survivors.
One of the ongoing concerns that I have and one of the hearings
that we had dealt with the fact that no matter how strong the benefits or health care that we provide veterans is, it does not do anybody any good unless veterans and their families understand the
benefits to which they are entitled.
While the VA does a lot of things very, very well, one of the
things that they have not done well is outreach. In the last couple
of months, by the way, I think we have seen a turnaround on that.
I think they are doing a better job.
It is not unimpressive that over 50 percent of the servicemembers who are leaving the Armed Forces now are, in fact, enrolled
in the VA. That is an historically high level of outreach in bringing
people into the system.
Our legislation is called the Veterans Outreach Act of 2013 and
it deals with the fact that if veterans are unaware of their benefits,
then nothing we discuss here today will help them when they need
assistance.
So, we have the Veterans Outreach Act of 2013 which, in a number of ways, works with community organizations to make sure
that every veteran in this country understands the benefits to
which he or she is entitled.
So, those are some of the issues that I will be working on. Now,
let me give the mic over to Senator Heller.
STATEMENT OF HON. DEAN HELLER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
Senator HELLER. Mr. Chairman, Thank you and thank you for
your leadership on this issue and for holding todays hearing. I
want to thank my colleagues who were here earlier. You can tell
that when it comes to veterans issues it is very bipartisan; and it
is good to have and to see that kind of support for our veterans
here in this country.
I want to thank those that are here as witnesses that will testify,
and I also want to thank those that are in the audience for taking
time from your busy schedules to show support on these bills.
I have a number of bills that will be discussed today that I have
written or cosponsored, and I would like to touch on a few of them,
if I may, Mr. Chairman.
First, I would like to discuss the Accountability for Veterans Act.
It is no secret this community has been holding vigorous oversight
of the backlog at the VA for disabilities and benefits claims. To say
that patience on this is thinning is probably an understatement.
In Las Vegas and in Reno, there are more than 10,000 pending
claims. Las Vegas veterans have been hit particularly hard by the
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economic downturn and these disability payments are critical to
these veterans who are trying to make ends meet.
I know there is not one solution that will solve this issue but one
problem seems to be coordination between VBA and other government agencies.
When the VA was here testifying on the backlog, we were told
that the employees at the VA were required to fax requests for files
to the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration,
the National Archives and then wait 60 days.
Then, when they did not get a response, they were to e-mail
those agencies and wait another 30 days. This process is outdated.
The fax machine is irrelevant. VA should modernize its procedure,
and that is why I have introduced the Accountability for Veterans
Act.
This bill requires DOD, the Social Security Administration, and
the National Archives to respond to a VA requests for veterans files
within 30 days with either the file or an explanation why the file
was not available and when the VA can expect this file. This bill
also calls for a biannual report to Congress on the time it takes for
these agencies to respond to the VA requests.
The measure has the support of the American Legion, Disabled
American Veterans, the Military Officers Association of America,
and the Veterans of Foreign Wars because we must hold these
agencies accountable if they are not providing information in a
timely manner.
I have another measure that I would like to address and that is
the Filipino Veterans Promise Act. Before I do that, I want to recognize someone in our audience, Mr. Almato, and I want to thank
you for being here today and thank you for your service.
[Applause.]
The Filipino Veterans Promise Act is bipartisan and bicameral.
It fulfills the obligation that the United States makes every effort
to ensure that individuals who served our Nation are properly recognized for their contributions to our Nation.
There is no doubt that the Filipino soldiers served honorably in
the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, recognized guerrilla
forces, and the new Philippine Scouts alongside U.S. troops during
World War II.
Today, many Filipino veterans are not able to have their service
of World War II verified by the Armys National Personnel Records
Center. The NPRC uses only evidence that is approved by the U.S.
Army and does not have access to a consolidated personal file for
most of the individuals who served in the Philippine army or guerrilla unit.
The Filipino Veterans Promise Act would mandate that the Department of Defense in coordination with military historians establish a process to open the approved revised reconstructed guerrilla
roster of 1948, also known as the Missouri List, to give Filipinos
the opportunity to prove their service during World War II.
I was proud to introduce this bill in the U.S. Senate and work
with Representative Hanabusa in the House of Representatives because Filipino veterans deserve a better process to adjudicate their
claims than currently exists.
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It is important to note that this bill works at length to ensure
that we are arming those who served and not providing benefits for
any person that did not. This is why this bill calls for the Army
to verify service. It is an added protection to ensure that hardearned benefits are going to those who earned them.
I think we can all agree that if any person served our country
in battle and is not receiving benefits they earned, this should be
an outrage. Las Vegas, in particular, has a large Filipino population and a number of Filipinos there are still seeking recognition
as veterans. They are a respected part of the community and they
deserve a fair and complete examination of their record.
I have also introduced two bills that will help military families
who have lost a loved one in the line of duty: the Veteran Small
Business Opportunity and Protection Act; as well as a bipartisan
bill, the Spouses of Heroes Education Act, that Senator Merkley
testified on earlier today.
Last, I introduced a bill with my fellow Committee Member, Senator Murray, the Care for Veterans Dependents Act.
I appreciate the consideration given to all these measures and
the time today to discuss them. As this Committee further discusses me and my colleagues proposals to help Americas veterans
receive the benefits that they have earned, it is my hope that we
will remember our commitments to caring for those brave heroes
who sacrificed greatly to serve this country.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman SANDERS. Thank you very much, Senator Heller.
Senator Begich.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARK BEGICH,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank

you again for having this hearing today. I just want to speak about
one bill, although I am on several others, which I appreciate my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
There is no question that in Alaska we have the highest number
per capita of veterans in the Nation; and everywhere and any time
I am in Alaska, the issues of veterans come up on small-scale and
large-scale. So again, thank you for having the list of legislation to
go over today.
I want to just talk about one specific bill, which is S. 932, the
Putting Veterans Funding First Act. This bill acts as a continuation. As you know, we have advanced appropriations on the health
care side, and what I am trying to do here is include the second
part which is VA discretionary accounts, including the National
Cemetery Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration,
and the Native American Veterans Housing Loan Program.
It would also authorize advance appropriations for the following
discretionary administration accounts: general operating expenses;
information technology systems; Office of the Inspector General;
construction for both major and minor projects; and grants for construction of State extended-care facilities.
Mr. Chairman, this has been something that I have believed in
ever since I was back in local government and that is trying to get
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more and more governments to 2-year cycles on funding because it
gives more stability for the agencies.
We did this for part of the VA in regard to their health care section where they have advance funding. It makes a big difference for
them to hire nurses, hire medical technicians, and others and it
just seems that we should complete the circle and finish out the VA
in giving them advance appropriation for all of their operations.
This would make a huge difference for management of the VA.
As a former mayorI know you are a former mayor, Mr. Chairmanevery time we dealt with our budget folks, we spent months
in preparation. Then we got the budget done. Then we had a few
months to manage it. Then we were back into preparation mode
again. It made no sense.
With the VA having so much need that is going to grow very significantly over the next several years, it just seems logical that we
get them on a cycle of more certainty which ensures veterans that
certain programs, as I just mentioned, would have the long-term
certainty and funding mechanism they need to hire people, to get
contracts, to move forward on construction, and other things that
are necessary for our veterans.
So, it is a simple bill, a continuation of advance appropriations
complementing what we have already done.
So, Mr. Chairman, I will leave it at that. There are other bills
that I have cosponsored and I am very excited about several of
them, but I know we want to get to the panel.
I have to step out for a few minutes but I will be back because,
as you said, a lot of ideas we get from the veterans organizations
are incredible for us and we should be listening carefully to hear
those ideas.
Chairman SANDERS. Senator Begich, thank you very much.
Senator Boozman.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BOOZMAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS
Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you so

much for having this very, very important hearing to evaluate proposals to improve the quality of delivery of care for our Nations
veterans that have served our country, and really try to continue
as a Committee and as Senators to uphold all of the promises that
we made to their families.
I appreciate the Senator from Alaskas leadership on the bill that
he just mentioned. We are the lead Republican cosponsor on that,
and to me it is just good governance. It makes all the sense in the
world, and I hope that we can get that done in the sense that I
think it is so important that we move government, you know, into
this century. I think that is one of the ways that we do it.
You know, this is something that would not cost us any money.
It would save us a lot of money and create tremendous efficiencies.
So, again, I thank you very much for your work on that.
I am also pleased that we have three other legislative proposals
that we are working with and looking forward with my colleagues
to try to get signed into law.
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S. 257, the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act would protect our veterans ability to use their GI benefit at the school of their choice
without facing the liability of having to offset out-of-state tuition
fees by paying out of their own pocket.
I know that there have been other proposals on how to accomplish the underlying principle of this legislation, which is to protect
choice for our veterans when utilizing one of their most important
economic opportunity benefits.
This legislation is supported by many VSOs including some here
today. I believe that it would very much be a step in the right direction in expanding educational opportunities for veterans and
would actually save the Federal Government money. I look forward
to working with my colleagues to accomplish this worthy goal.
S. 695, the Veterans Paralympic Act of 2013 seeks to reauthorize
the paralympic integrated adaptive sports program for disabled
veterans. The modest investment that we make in this program
improves the physical and mental health of so many of our disabled
veterans.
This program has reached more than 5,000 participants in more
than 150 communities in 46 States. It has successfully collaborated
with 85 VA medical centers in 39 States to provide an adaptive
sports program to veterans in their communities.
Extending this program I think is a common sense step to empower our disabled veterans through sport and benefits the physical and mental health of the disabled veteran community.
S. 889, the Service Members Choice in Transition Act, is another
bill that we have been working on. The Department of Defense is
redesigning and updating TAP to make it more interactive and this
makes it such that it offers on a non-mandatory basis specialized
tracks for servicemembers that fit their transition goals.
The legislation would mandate that servicemembers be given a
choice to take one of the tracks as part of the mandatory portion
of TAP and will assist them in meeting the specific transition goal.
This goal-oriented structure helps our transitioning veterans
identify and pursue specific goals early, which means that they will
be more likely to use their hard-earned benefits wisely.
Again, I think this is so important. If, through TAP and every
other device that we have, we can make it such that we can get
our veterans employed, get them where they are able to support
their families, take care of themselves, then it is not only the right
thing to do but it is something that saves tremendous amounts of
money long term in trying to deal with the problems of not being
able to do that.
All of these bills I have just mentioned are reasonable, bipartisan
proposals to improve the lives and opportunities of our veterans
and their families, and I appreciate their consideration here today.
With that, I would like to include the rest of my statement for
the record and get on to our witnesses.
Chairman SANDERS. Without objection.
[The prepared statement of Senator Boozman follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BOOZMAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS
Mr. Chairman, Thank you for holding this hearing so that we can continue to
evaluate proposals to improve the quality and delivery of services to our Nations
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veterans, and fight to uphold all of the promises that we have made to them and
their families.
I am particularly pleased that we have included three of my legislative proposals
and look forward to working with my colleagues to get these bills signed into law.
S. 257, the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act would protect our veterans ability to use
their GI Benefit at the school of their choice, without facing the liability of having
to offset out-of-state tuition fees by paying out of their own pocket. I know that
there have been other proposals on how to accomplish the underlying principal of
this legislationwhich is to protect choice for our veterans when utilizing one of
their most important economic opportunity benefitsand I look forward to working
with my colleagues to accomplish this worthy goal. This legislation is supported by
many VSOs, including some here today, and would be a step in the right direction
in expanding educational opportunities for veterans and would actually save the
Federal Government money.
S. 695, the Veterans Paralympic Act of 2013 seeks to reauthorize the Paralympic
Integrated Adaptive Sports Program for disabled veterans. The modest investment
that we make in this program improves the physical and mental health of so many
of our disabled veterans. This program has reached more than 5,000 participants
in more than 150 communities in 46 states. It has successfully collaborated with 85
VA medical centers in 39 states to provide adaptive sports programs to veterans in
their communities. Extending this program is a common sense step to empower our
disabled veterans through sport, and benefits the physical and mental health of our
disabled veteran community.
S. 889, the Servicemembers Choice in Transition Act is another bill I have been
working on. The Department of Defense (DOD) is re-designing and updating TAP
to make it more interactive and it offers on a non-mandatory basis specialized
tracks for servicemembers that fit their transition goals. This legislation would mandate that servicemembers be given the choice to take one of the tracks as part of
the mandatory portion of TAP, and will assist them in meeting their specific transition goal. This goal oriented structure helps our transitioning veterans identify and
pursue specific goals early, which means that they will be more likely to use their
hard earned benefits wisely.
All of these bills I have just mentioned are reasonable, bipartisan proposals to improve the lives and opportunities of our veterans and their families, and I appreciate
their consideration here today.
Other important bills before us today will:
Protect the second amendment rights of our nations veterans
Recognize the honorable service of guardsmen and reservists that have served
our Nation for 20 or more years
Ensure the freedom of religious expression on national war memorials
Ensure a cost of living adjustment for disabled veterans
Try to fix our broken VA claims processing system; and
Provide many other economic opportunities to those who have served and sacrificed on behalf of our grateful Nation.
These are all important goals and I appreciate everyone here for all of your hard
work on behalf of our Nations veterans and look forward to continuing our work
together to address these issues facing the veteran community.
Chairman SANDERS. Very good. Senator Boozman, thanks very

much. I want to thank each of the Senators who have spoken about
their important legislation; we look forward to working with all of
them.
Now, we are ready for our second panel. We welcome representatives of the VA.
Senator Boozman, did you want to come up here?
Senator BOOZMAN. I think Senator Heller is about to join us.
Chairman SANDERS. OK. We are pleased to have with us Curtis
L. Coy, who is the Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Opportunity of the Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs. He is accompanied by Thomas Murphy, Director of
Compensation Service; Richard Hipolit, Assistant General Counsel;
and John Brizzi, Deputy Assistant General Counsel.
Gentlemen, thanks very much for being with us. Mr. Coy, I think
we begin with you.
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STATEMENT OF CURTIS L. COY, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY
FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS;
ACCOMPANIED BY THOMAS MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF COMPENSATION SERVICE; RICHARD HIPOLIT, ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL; AND JOHN BRIZZI, DEPUTY ASSISTANT
GENERAL COUNSEL
Mr. COY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning to you,
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. I am pleased to be
here today to provide the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs on pending legislation affecting VAs programs.
We are encouraged seeing so many legislative proposals aimed at
improving benefits and services for our Nations veterans. We are
particularly glad to see the inclusion of some of the concepts VA
put forth in April in its 2014 budget as well as significant legislation aimed at addressing claims backlog.
As we have been reporting regularly to the Committee, VA has
been able to do much in the areas of people, process, and technology under the authorities it has now but there are systemic
changes that could be done only by legislation.
We are happy to discuss these bills that are aimed at giving veterans better tools to further their education and employment, extend certain work-study activities, and improve our programs that
benefit veteran-owned small businesses.
Accompanying me this morning are my colleagues are Thomas
Murphy, Director, Compensation Service at Veterans Benefits Administration; Richard Hipolit, Assistant General Counsel; and John
Brizzi, Deputy Assistant General Counsel.
Given the number of bills under consideration today and in the
interest of time, I will focus my statement this morning on legislation impacting several broad areas. There are also significant bills
on the subject of outreach, benefits for survivors, and mental
health programs. For several bills we provided our views and costs
for the record. Similar to the Members of this Committee, VA is always seeking new ways to improve benefits for those who have
served.
I am a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and, like you and your
staff, work hard to ensure that we honor those who have served
and sacrificed for our country.
With respect to those bills that affect education and employment
of veterans, the VA supports any effort that would end those opportunities. We support extending the veterans are retraining and assistance program but we suggest additional changes to the program
to improve the administration of the program and give veterans
more choices.
The VA also supports the veterans internship pilot but again recommends several ambiguities and resource issues be addressed before moving the bill for word.
While we are sympathetic to the issue of rising tuition costs, it
is difficult to endorse any legislation that might impact or limit
choices of veterans that they may have were a school not to offer
in-state tuition for veterans.
Similarly, changing the way we currently calculate tuition and
fees in the post-9/11 GI Bill would be a challenge to both imple-
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ment and understand. We look forward to working with the Committee to address these challenges.
The VA strongly supports those bills that propose to extend existing programs such as portions of the vocational rehabilitation and
employment, the paralympics, and VAs work-study program and
we would suggest making some of those extensions permanent.
Finally, we appreciate the Committees interest in legislation intended to reduce the disability claims backlog. We support many
provisions of the claims process improvement act of 2013 which
hold promise to take a significant bite out of the backlog without
prejudicing veterans and we look forward to commenting shortly on
other significant provisions of that bill. We want to work with you
and other stakeholders here today to have a collaborative dialog
about all of the proposals on the agenda today.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. Thank you for the
opportunity to appear before you today. We would be pleased to respond to any questions you or other Members of the Committee
may have about any of these bills or other legislation discussed in
our written testimony.
Thank you, sir.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Coy follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF CURTIS L. COY, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITY, VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. I am pleased to
be here today to provide the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on
pending legislation affecting VAs programs, including the following: Sections 101,
102 and 103 of S. 6, S. 200, S. 257, S. 262, S. 294, S. 373, S. 430, sections 5, 6, 7,
and 8 of S. 495, S. 514, S. 515, S. 572, S. 629, S. 674, S. 690, S. 695, S. 705, S. 748,
S. 893, S. 894, S. 922, sections 103, 104, 201, 202, 301, 302, 303, 304, and 305 of
S. 928, and S. 939. VA has not had time to develop cost estimates for S. 514 and
S. 894 and but will work to provide them. VA has not had time to develop views
and costs on the other sections of S. 928. I cannot address today views and costs
on S. 735, S. 778, S. 819, S. 863, S. 868, S. 889, S. 927, certain sections of S. 928,
S. 930, S. 932, S. 935, S. 938, S. 944, S. 1039, S. 1042, and S. 1058, but, with your
permission, we will work to provide that information. Other legislative proposals
under discussion today would affect programs or laws administered by the Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense (DOD), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the General Services
Administration (GSA). Respectfully, we defer to those Departments views on those
legislative proposals. Accompanying me this morning are Thomas Murphy, Director,
Compensation Service, Veterans Benefits Administration; Richard Hipolit, Assistant
General Counsel; and John Brizzi, Deputy Assistant General Counsel.
S. 6
Section 101 of S. 6, the Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2013, would
extend by two years the expiration of the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program
(VRAP) under section 211 of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, from March 31,
2014, to March 31, 2016. This section also would increase the maximum enrollment
in VRAP from 99,000 to 199,000 Veterans. It would add 50,000 participants during
the period April 1, 2014 through March 31, 2015, and another 50,000 between
April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016. Finally, section 101 would amend subsection (b)
of section 211 by striking up to 12 months of retraining and replacing it with an
aggregate of not more than 12 months of retraining.
VA generally supports the legislation that would extend the expiration of VRAP,
to allow maximum enrollment of the currently allotted 99,000 participants. VA supports legislative initiatives that are designed to help Veterans seek and gain meaningful employment, and this legislation provides more time to select and complete
their degree or certificate program, particularly those Veterans between the ages of
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35 and 60. VA suggests, however, that changes be made to the existing program
prior to expansion, including adding new participants.
As of April 25, 2013, VA approved 98,296 applicants for VRAP benefits, but only
43,803 Veterans were either enrolled in school or had used their benefits. VA
reached out to individuals eligible for VRAP on several occasions to encourage them
to enroll in training. VA recommends that the following changes be made to VRAP
before expanding the program to more participants:
Allow participants to receive the full 12-month benefit as long as the participant
starts a training program within the period between receiving their certificate of eligibility and the programs sunset date.
Expand the program to include 4-year institutions that offer associates degrees.
Amend the sunset date of the program from March 31 to May 31 so that it does
not end in the middle of a standard academic semester.
Finally, VA recommends removing the partition of participants by fiscal year.
Many unemployed Veterans cannot enroll in training before they receive their certificate of eligibility for VRAP. Therefore, Veterans may not enroll in school during
the same fiscal year that they are determined eligible. Additionally, it is unclear if
any unused slots from the original 99,000 participants will be lost in the next fiscal
year or will remain available for use in the next fiscal year. To reduce confusion
for Veterans using the program, VA recommends that any increase in beneficiaries
be effective for the remainder of the program.
VA estimates the benefit costs for section 101 of S. 6 would be $152.8 million during fiscal year (FY) 2014 and $1.3 billion for the period beginning on April 1, 2014
through March 31, 2016.
Section 102 of S. 6 would extend the provisions of Section 231 of Public Law 112
56 through December 31, 2016, VAs authority to provide vocational rehabilitation
benefits to members of the Armed Forces with severe injuries or illnesses who have
not yet been rated for purposes of service-connected disability compensation. The
current authority to provide such benefits to these Servicemembers expires on December 31, 2014. Section 102 also would require VA to submit a report to Congress
on the benefits provided to these members of the Armed Forces within 180 days
after the enactment of section 102.
VA supports this provision and believes that extending automatic eligibility for
vocational rehabilitation to Servicemembers for two additional years is warranted
due to the expected acceleration in Servicemembers separating from the Armed
Forces. This provision would allow individuals who are still on active duty to qualify
for and receive vocational rehabilitation and employment services without waiting
for a VA disability rating, and would facilitate their transition from military to civilian life.
We do not anticipate additional costs to VA resulting from enactment of this provision because individuals who would receive vocational rehabilitation services
under this provision would be expected to receive VA disability ratings as Veterans
that would qualify them for vocational rehabilitation services.
Section 103 of the bill would provide a two-year extension of the provisions of section 233 of Public Law 11256, which entitles a Veteran who has completed a vocational rehabilitation program under chapter 31 of title 38, United States Code, and
has exhausted state unemployment benefits, to an additional twelve-month period
of vocational rehabilitation services without regard to the 12-year eligibility period
or 48-month limitation on entitlements. Under current law, VA must receive the application for chapter 31 services before March 31, 2014, and within 6 months of exhausting regular unemployment compensation benefits. If section 103 were enacted,
the deadline for receipt of an application would be extended until March 31, 2016.
VA supports this provision. Extending this benefit for Veterans who are beyond
the 12-year delimiting date would provide them the opportunity to prepare for and
obtain suitable employment.
VA estimates that benefit costs associated with enactment of section 103 would
be approximately $260,000 from FY 2016 through FY 2018. There are no additional
full-time equivalent (FTE) or general operating expenses (GOE) cost requirements.
Sections 104, 201, 301, and 302 affect programs or laws administered by DOL.
Section 202 affects programs or laws administered by DHS. Section 203 affects programs or laws administered by GSA. Respectfully we defer to those Departments
views on those sections of S. 6.
S. 200
S. 200 would establish eligibility for interment in a national cemetery for any individual who: (1) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines served in combat support of the Armed Forces in Laos during the period beginning on February 28, 1961,
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and ending on May 15, 1975; and (2) at the time of death was a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted alien.
Section 401 of Public Law 95202 authorizes the Secretary of Defense to determine whether the service of members of civilian or contractual groups shall be considered active duty for the purposes of all laws administered by VA. The DOD Civilian/Military Service Review Board advises the Secretary of Defense in determining
if civilian service in support of the U.S. Armed Forces during a period of armed conflict is equivalent to active military service for VA benefits. VA provides burial and
memorial benefits to individuals deemed eligible by reason of active military service
established by the Secretary of Defense.
VA does not support this bill because it would bypass the statutorily mandated
process established under section 401 of Public Law 95202 that promotes consistency in evaluation of various types of service. The established process under Public
Law 95202 ensures that determinations regarding individuals or groups who did
not serve in the Armed Forces are based on adequate information regarding the nature of the operations of the U.S. Armed Forces at the relevant times and locations
and the nature of the support provided by the individuals or groups in question.
Further, VA relies on DOD to determine the circumstances of an individuals service and when such service was rendered, and, for purposes of this bill, VA would
have to rely on DOD to make determinations such as whether such service was in
combat support of the Armed Forces. VA is not equipped to make those determinations on a case-by-case basis. Yet the bill makes no provision for DOD involvement
in the process. In addition, it is unclear how combat support would be defined and
documented for purposes of implementing this bill.
If the assumption is made that the impacted population would be small, no significant cemetery construction or interment costs would be associated with this
legislation.
S. 257
S. 257, the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013, would amend section 3679 of
title 38, United States Code, to direct VA, for purposes of the educational assistance
programs administered by the Secretary, to disapprove courses of education provided by public institutions of higher education that do not charge tuition and fees
for Veterans at the same rate that is charged for in-state residents, regardless of
the Veterans State of residence. The bill does not address whether tuition and fee
rates for Servicemembers or other eligible beneficiaries of the GI Bill affect the approval status of a program of education. S. 257 would apply to educational assistance provided after August 1, 2014. In the case of a course of education in which
a Veteran or eligible person (such as a spouse or dependent who is eligible for education benefits) is enrolled prior to August 1, 2014, that is subsequently disapproved
by VA, the Department would treat that course as approved until the Veteran or
eligible person completes the course in which the individual is enrolled. After August 1, 2018, any disapproved course would be treated as such, unless the Veteran
or eligible person receives a waiver from VA. While VA is sympathetic to the issue
of rising tuition costs, it is difficult to endorse the proposed legislation until we
know more about the impact.
VA cannot predict what reductions in offerings by educational institutions would
result from this requirement. In-state tuition rules are set by individual States, and
are undoubtedly driven by overall fiscal factors and other policy considerations. Additionally, the bill creates ambiguity since it is unclear whether institutions that
charge out-of-state tuition and fees to other eligible persons for a course of education, but that charge in-state tuition to Veterans in the same course, would also
be disapproved.
VA estimates approximately 11.8 percent of Yellow Ribbon participants attended
public institutions since the programs inception. Of those, an estimated 80.6 percent were Veterans during the 2012 fall enrollment period. VA applied these percentages to the total amount of Yellow Ribbon benefits paid in FY 2012 and projected through FY 2023, assuming growth consistent with the overall chapter 33
program. Based on those projections, VA estimates that enactment of S. 257 would
result in benefit savings to VAs Readjustment Benefits account of $2.3 million in
the first year, $70.3 million over 5 years, and $179.9 million over 10 years. VA estimates there would be no additional GOE administrative costs required to implement
this bill.
S. 262
S. 262, the Veterans Education Equity Act of 2013, would amend section
3313(c)(1) of title 38, United States Code, to revise the formula for the payment of
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tuition and fees for individuals entitled to educational assistance under the Post9/11 GI Bill who are pursuing programs of education at a public institution of higher learning (IHL). The revised formula would include, as an additional payment formula, the lesser of the actual net cost for tuition and fees after applying the receipt
of any tuition waivers, reductions, and scholarships, versus the greater of the actual
net cost for in-state tuition and fees after applying the receipt of any tuition waivers, reductions, and scholarships, or $17,500 for the academic year beginning on August 1, 2011 (such amount to be increased each subsequent year by the average percentage increase in undergraduate tuition costs). The amendment would be effective
with respect to the payment of educational assistance for an academic year beginning on or after the date of enactment.
Currently, resident and non-resident students pursuing programs of education at
public IHLs receive the actual net cost for in-state tuition and fees charged by the
institution. As written, this bill would allow non-resident students to receive an
amount above net in-state tuition charges in some instances.
While VA understands the issue of rising educational costs and supports the intent underlying the bill to provide payment equity for individuals training under the
Post-9/11 GI Bill, VA cannot support the proposed legislation.
The additional separate rules for tuition-and-fee charges would add yet another
level of complexity to the Post-9/11 GI Bill for both Veterans and schools to understand. VA continues to receive complaints from participants regarding confusion
about exactly how much they will receive in tuition and fees under the program.
This bill would exacerbate that problem.
S. 262 would also lead to very complicated processing scenarios in the Long Term
Solution (LTS), the computer processing system for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Rules in
the LTS system regarding payment amounts would need to be updated. Additionally, since the amount of educational assistance would be based on the actual net
cost for tuition and fees versus the greater of the actual net cost for in-state tuition
and fees and $17,500, VA would have to apply a blended set of rules to each claim
that falls under these provisions.
In addition, VA has identified technical concerns with the bills text. For example,
it is unclear how to apply the $17,500 cap per academic year to enrollments. The
bill does not specify if VA would need to pay the first term of the academic year
up to the maximum amount or divide the total yearly allotment over the course of
different semesters. There could be scenarios in which an individual may receive
most of, if not all, the yearly allotment for the fall term alone, leaving no money
to be spent in the subsequent terms.
VA estimates that the benefit cost associated with enactment of this bill would
be $613.0 million in the first year, $3.4 billion over 5 years, and $7.6 billion over
10 years. No administrative or personnel costs to VA are associated with this bill.
VA information technology costs are estimated to be $1 million. These costs include
enhancements to the Post-9/11 GI Bill Long-Term Solution.
S. 294
Section 2(a) of S. 294, the Ruth Moore Act of 2013, would add to 38 U.S.C.
1154 a new subsection (c) to provide that, if a Veteran alleges that a covered mental health condition was incurred or aggravated by military sexual trauma (MST)
during active service, VA must accept as sufficient proof of service-connection a
mental health professionals diagnosis of the condition together with satisfactory lay
or other evidence of such trauma and the professionals opinion that the condition
is related to such trauma, provided that the trauma is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of such service, irrespective of whether there
is an official record of incurrence or aggravation in service. Service connection could
be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. In the absence of
clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and provided the claimed MST is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, and hardships of service, the Veterans
lay testimony alone would be sufficient to establish the occurrence of the claimed
MST. The provision would define the term covered mental health condition to
mean Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, or other mental
health diagnosis described in the current version of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that VA determines
to be related to military sexual trauma. The bill would define MST to mean psychological trauma, which in the judgment of a mental health professional, resulted
from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred during active military, naval, or air service.
Section 2(b) would require VA, for a 5-year period beginning with FY 2014, to submit to Congress an annual report on claims covered by new section 1154(c) that
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were submitted during the fiscal year. Section 2(b) would also require VA to report
on the: (1) number and percentage of covered claims submitted by each sex that
were approved and denied; (2) rating percentage assigned for each claim based on
the sex of the claimant; (3) three most common reasons for denying such claims; (4)
number of claims denied based on a Veterans failure to report for a medical examination; (5) number of claims pending at the end of each fiscal year; (6) number of
claims on appeal; (7) average number of days from submission to completion of the
claims; and (8) training provided to Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) employees with respect to covered claims.
Section 2(c) would make proposed section 1154(c) applicable to disability claims
for which no final decision has been made before the date of the enactment of the
bill.
VA is committed to serving our Nations Veterans by accurately adjudicating
claims based on MST in a thoughtful and caring manner, while fully recognizing
the unique evidentiary considerations involved in such an event. Before addressing
the specific provisions of S. 294, it would be useful to outline those efforts, which
we believe achieve the intent behind the bill. The Under Secretary for Benefits has
spearheaded VBAs efforts to ensure that these claims are adjudicated compassionately and fairly, with sensitivity to the unique circumstances presented by each
individual claim.
VA is aware that, because of the personal and sensitive nature of the MST
stressors in these cases, it is often difficult for the victim to report or document the
event when it occurs. To remedy this, VA developed regulations and procedures specific to MST claims that appropriately assist the claimant in developing evidence
necessary to support the claim. As with other PTSD claims, VA initially reviews the
Veterans military service records for evidence of the claimed stressor. VAs regulation also provides that evidence from sources other than a Veterans service records
may corroborate the Veterans account of the stressor incident, such as evidence
from mental health counseling centers or statements from family members and fellow Servicemembers. Evidence of behavior changes, such as a request for transfer
to another military duty assignment, is another type of relevant evidence that may
indicate occurrence of an assault. VA notifies Veterans regarding the types of evidence that may corroborate occurrence of an in-service personal assault and asks
them to submit or identify any such evidence. The actual stressor need not be documented. If minimal circumstantial evidence of a stressor is obtained, VA will schedule an examination with an appropriate mental health professional and request an
opinion as to whether the examination indicates that an in-service stressor occurred.
The mental health professionals opinion can establish occurrence of the claimed
stressor.
With respect to claims for other disabilities based on MST, VA has a duty to assist in obtaining evidence to substantiate a claim for disability compensation. When
a Veteran files a claim for mental or physical disabilities other than PTSD based
on MST, VBA will obtain a Veterans service medical records, VA treatment records,
relevant Federal records identified by the Veteran, and any other relevant records,
including private records, identified by the Veteran that the Veteran authorizes VA
to obtain. VA must also provide a medical examination or obtain a medical opinion
when necessary to decide a disability claim. VA will request that the medical examiner provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not that the current
symptoms or disability are related to the in-service event. This opinion will be considered as evidence in deciding whether the Veterans disability is service-connected.
VBA has also placed a primary emphasis on informing VA regional office (RO)
personnel of the issues related to MST and providing training in proper claims development and adjudication. VBA developed and issued Training Letter 1105, Adjudicating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Claims Based on Military Sexual Trauma,
in December 2011. This was followed by a nationwide broadcast on MST claims adjudication. The broadcast focused on describing the range of potential markers that
could indicate occurrence of an MST stressor and the importance of a thorough and
open-minded approach to seeking such markers in the evidentiary record. In addition, the VBA Challenge Training Program, which all newly hired claims processors
are required to attend, now includes a module on MST within the course on PTSD
claims processing. VBA also provided its designated Women Veterans Coordinators
with updated specialized training. These employees are located in every VA RO and
are available to assist both female and male Veterans with their claims resulting
from MST.
VBA worked closely with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Disability Examination and Medical Assessment to ensure that specific training was
developed for clinicians conducting PTSD compensation examinations for MST-related claims. VBA and VHA further collaborated to provide a training broadcast tar-
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geted to VHA clinicians and VBA raters on this very important topic, which aired
initially in April 2012 and has been rebroadcast numerous times.
Prior to these training initiatives, the grant rate for PTSD claims based on MST
was about 38 percent. Following the training, the grant rate rose and at the end
of February 2013 stood at about 52 percent, which is roughly comparable to the approximate 59-percent grant rate for all PTSD claims.
In December 2012, VBAs Systematic Technical Accuracy Review team, VBAs national quality assurance office, completed a second review of approximately 300
PTSD claims based on MST. These claims were denials that followed a medical examination. The review showed an overall accuracy rate of 86 percent, which is
roughly the same as the current national benefit entitlement accuracy level for all
rating-related end products.
In addition, VBAs new standardized organizational model has now been implemented at all of our ROs. It incorporates a case-management approach to claims
processing. VBA reorganized its workforce into cross-functional teams that give employees visibility of the entire processing cycle of a Veterans claim. These crossfunctional teams work together on one of three segmented lanes: express, special operations, or core. Claims that predictably can take less time flow through an express
lane (30 percent); those taking more time or requiring special handling flow through
a special operations lane (10 percent); and the rest of the claims flow through the
core lane (60 percent). All MST-related claims are now processed in the special operations lane, ensuring that our most experienced and skilled employees are assigned
to manage these complex claims.
The Under Secretary for Benefits efforts have dramatically improved VAs overall
sensitivity to MST-related PTSD claims and have led to higher current grant rates.
However, she recognized that some Veterans MST-related claims were decided before her efforts began. To assist those Veterans and provide them with the same
evidentiary considerations as Veterans who file claims today, VBA in April 2013 advised Veterans of the opportunity to request that VA review their previously denied
PTSD claims based on MST. Those Veterans who respond will receive review of
their claims based on VAs heightened sensitivity to MST and a more complete
awareness of evidence development. VBA will also continue to work with VHA medical professionals to ensure they are aware of their critical role in processing these
claims.
Through VAs extensive, recent, and ongoing actions, we are ensuring that MST
claimants are given a full and fair opportunity to have their claim considered, with
a practical and sensitive approach based on the nature of MST. As noted above, VA
has recognized the sensitive nature of MST-related PTSD claims and claims based
on other covered mental health conditions, as well as the difficulty inherent in obtaining evidence of an in-service MST event. Current regulations provide multiple
means to establish an occurrence, and VA has initiated additional training efforts
and specialized handling procedures to ensure thorough, accurate, and timely processing of these claims.
VAs regulations reflect the special nature of PTSD. Section 3.304(f) of title 38
Code of Federal Regulations, currently provides particularized rules for establishing
stressors related to personal assault, combat, former prisoner-of-war status, and fear
of hostile military or terrorist activity. These particularized rules are based on an
acknowledgement that certain circumstances of service may make the claimed
stressor more difficult to corroborate. Nevertheless, they require threshold evidentiary showings designed to ensure accuracy and fairness in determinations as to
whether the claimed stressor occurred. Evidence of a Veterans service in combat or
as a prisoner of war generally provides an objective basis for concluding that
claimed stressors related to such service occurred. Evidence that a Veteran served
in an area of potential military or terrorist activity may provide a basis for concluding that stressors related to fears of such activity occurred. In such cases, VA
also requires the opinion of a VA or VA-contracted mental health professional,
which enables VA to ensure that such opinions are properly based on consideration
of relevant facts, including service records, as needed. For PTSD claims based on
a personal assault, lay evidence from sources outside the Veterans service records
may corroborate the Veterans account of the in-service stressor, such as statements
from law enforcement authorities, mental health counseling centers, family members, or former Servicemembers, as well as other evidence of behavioral changes following the claimed assault. Minimal circumstantial evidence of a stressor is sufficient to schedule a VA examination and request that the examiner provide an opinion as to whether the stressor occurred. We recognize that some victims of sexual
assault may not have even this minimal circumstantial evidence, and we are committed to addressing the problem.
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As VA has continued its close review of this legislation as part of an Administration-wide focus on the critical issue of MST, we would like to further consider
whether statutory changes could also be useful, while continuing to carry forward
the training, regulatory, and case review efforts described above. VA would like to
follow up with the Committee on the results of this review, and of course are glad
to meet with you or your staff on this critical issue.
VA does not oppose section 2(b).
Section 2(c) does not define the term final decision. As a result, it is unclear
whether the new law would be applicable to an appealed claim in which no final
decision has been issued by VA or, pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 7291, by a court.
Benefit costs are estimated to be $135.9 million during the first year, $2.0 billion
for 5 years, and $7.1 billion over 10 years.
S. 373
S. 373, the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2013,
would consider a person a spouse, for purposes of military personnel policies and
military and Veterans benefits, if the marriage of the individual is valid in the
State in which the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered
into outside any State, if the marriage is valid in the place in which the marriage
was entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a State. It includes as a State: the District of Columbia, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and
the Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. territories and possessions. We defer to
DODs views on those parts of the bill amending titles 10, 32, and 37 of the United
States Code.
Section 7 of title 1, United States Code, which implements section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, defines the term marriage for purposes of Federal statutes,
regulations, or rulings to mean only a union between one man and one woman as
husband and wife, and defines the term spouse to mean only a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife. This law excludes same-sex relationships from
the definition of marriage, and persons of the same sex from the definition of
spouse, regardless of whether the marital relationship is recognized under state
law. Similarly, section 101(3) and (31) of title 38, United States Code, limits the
definitions of surviving spouse and spouse for purposes of the statutory provisions in title 38 pertaining to VA benefits to only apply to a person of the opposite
sex of the Veteran.
With regard to the laws that govern VA, section 2(d) of the bill would revise paragraph (3) of section 101 to remove the requirement that a surviving spouse must
be a person of the opposite sex of the Veteran. We believe the revision to section
101(3) would most logically be read to incorporate the liberalized definition of
spouse in the proposed section 101(31), but that there would be some ambiguity
on that question absent language in section 101(3) expressly precluding application
of section 7 of title 1, United States Code, which defines both spouse and marriage for purposes of all Federal laws.
Section 2(d) of the bill would revise paragraph (31) of section 101, which defines
the term spouse for the purposes of title 38, to exclude the application of section
7 of title 1, United States Code, and, in most instances, to defer to the law of the
State in which the parties celebrated their marriage to determine the validity of the
marriage and whether an individual qualifies as a spouse of a Veteran. Under this
section of the bill, an individual shall be considered a spouse if the marriage of
the individual is valid in the State in which the marriage was entered into, or in
the case in which the marriage was entered into outside any State, if the marriage
is valid in the place in which the marriage was entered into as long as the marriage
could have been entered into in a State. Section 2 would further revise section
101(31) to refer to paragraph (20) of the same section to provide the meaning of the
term State, with the additional inclusion of the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands. The bills language in section 101(31) directly conflicts with 38
U.S.C. 103(c), which provides that VA determines the validity of a marriage in accordance with the law of the State where the parties resided at the time of the marriage or the law of the State where the parties resided when the right to benefits
accrued.
VA supports this bill to change the definition of spouse and surviving spouse
in title 38 and exempt VA from the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which restricts
Federal marriage benefits and requires inter-state marriage recognition to only opposite-sex marriages in the United States. However, VA is concerned about the conflict (noted above) between section 103(c) and the proposed amendments in section
101. We suggest the proposed legislation be amended to resolve this issue. Specifically, this bill could amend section 103(c), which defines a marriage based on the
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law of the place where the parties resided at the time of the marriage or the law
of the place where the parties resided when the right to benefits accrued to be consistent with the other amendments of section 2 providing that an individual shall
be considered a spouse based on the law of the place where the parties entered
into the marriage. Alternatively, the amendments in section 2 of the bill could be
revised to be consistent with the current section 103(c). We note that a revision to
section 103(c) would change how VA administers benefits for both same-sex and heterosexual couples.
S. 373 would require an amendment to several regulations, including section 3.1(j)
of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, which defines marriage, and section 3.50
of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, which defines spouse and surviving
spouse. S. 373 would also require VA to revise several sections in its adjudication
procedures manual and develop other policy and procedures guidance. Full implementation of this bill would require VA to amend governing regulations, procedures,
and training products. Therefore, if this bill is codified, VA will work diligently to
revise its regulations in a timely manner.
S. 373 would affect all VA benefits available to or for a veterans spouse, including
compensation, pension, insurance, death, burial, memorialization, and other benefits. Full implementation of this bill would require VA to amend governing regulations, procedures, and training products, which could result in some short-term
delays due to the necessary transitions. For example, under Family Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (FSGLI), members of the uniformed services insured
under SGLI can purchase life insurance on the lives of their spouses. Currently
same-sex spouses are not considered spouses for FSGLI purposes. Also, since the
spousal coverage is automatically included for most SGLI-insured members, it would
be necessary for DOD to adjust its data systems to accommodate recognized marriages, including its premium deduction functions, since DODs systems maintain all
SGLI-related information for its Servicemembers. It would have to be determined
if the Office of Servicemembers Group Life Insurance, the office that administers
the SGLI program and receives from DOD the documentation necessary to identify
and pay claims, will be able to rely on DODs certifications, or will have to try to
identify and verify claims for the death of a spouse that are based upon same-sex
marriages.
VA will provide a cost estimate for the record.
S. 430
Section 2 of S. 430, the Veterans Small Business Opportunity and Protection Act
of 2013, would expand the scope of the surviving spouse exception associated with
VAs Veteran-owned small business (VOSB) acquisition program established by 38
U.S.C. 8127. This program requires that VA verify the ownership and control of
VOSBs by Veterans in order for the VOSB to participate in VA acquisitions set
aside for these firms.
Currently, an exception in the law is provided for certain surviving spouses to
stand in the place of a deceased service-disabled spouse owner for verification purposes if the Veteran owner had a service-connected disability rated as 100 percent
disabling or died as a result of a service-connected disability for a limited period of
time. Section 2 would continue to provide that if the deceased Veteran spouse had
a service-connected disability rated as 100 percent disabling or died as a result of
a service-connected disability, the surviving spouse owner could retain verified service-disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) status for VAs program for
a period of 10 years. In addition, a surviving spouse of a deceased Veteran with any
service-connected disability, regardless of whether the Veteran died as a result of
the disability, could retain verified SDVOSB status for VAs program for a period
of 3 years. VA supports this provision.
Section 3 of S. 430 would add a separate, new provision to 38 U.S.C. 8127 to
enable the surviving spouse or dependent of an servicemember killed in the line of
duty who acquires 51 percent or greater ownership rights of the servicemembers
small business to stand in place of the deceased servicemember for purposes of
verifying the small business as one owned and controlled by Veterans in conjunction
with VAs VOSB set-aside acquisition program also created by 38 U.S.C. 8127.
This status would continue, for purposes of a surviving spouse, until the earlier of
the re-marriage of the surviving spouse, the relinquishment of ownership interest
such that the percentage falls below 51 percent, or 10 years. With respect to dependent status, this would continue until the dependent holds less than 51 percent ownership interest or 10 years, whichever occurs earlier. VA supports this provision but
recommends clarifying the term dependent, as appropriate, to ensure the individual is one having legal capacity to contract with the Federal Government. VA
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stands ready to work with the Committee to address this issue. VA estimates no
additional appropriations would be required to implement this bill if enacted.
S. 492
S. 492, which would require conditioning certain DOL grants upon States establishing programs to recognize military experience in its licensing and credentialing
programs. This bill affects programs or laws administered by DOL. Respectfully, we
defer to that Departments views on this bill.
S. 495
Section 5 of S. 495, Careers for Veterans Act of 2013, would add a new definition to 38 U.S.C. 8127, VAs VOSB set-aside acquisition program, to clarify that
any small business concern owned exclusively by Veterans would be deemed to be
unconditionally owned by Veterans. VA supports this provision.
Section 6 of the bill essentially duplicates the extension of surviving spouse status
previously discussed in conjunction with section 2 of S. 430. VA supports this provision. Section 7 of this bill essentially duplicates the provisions of section 3 of S. 430.
Again, VA supports this provision subject to the caveat that dependent be more
specifically defined. Last, section 8 of this bill would add a new subsection to 38
U.S.C. 8127 that would eliminate consideration of state community property laws
in verification examinations with respect to determinations of ownership percentage
by the Veteran or Veterans of businesses located in States with community property
laws. VA supports this provision. VA estimates that no additional appropriations
would be required to implement the provisions of sections 5 through 8 of S. 495.
Section 2 affects programs or laws administered by OPM and sections 3 and 4 affect programs or laws administered by DOL. Respectfully, we defer to those Departments for views on those sections of S. 495.
S. 514
S. 514 would authorize VA to pay an additional appropriate amount to each individual entitled to educational assistance under the Post-9/11 GI Bill (chapter 33)
who is pursuing a program of education with a focus (as determined in accordance
with regulations prescribed by VA) on science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) or an area leading to employment in a high-demand occupation. Such payment amount would be in addition to any other educational assistance to which the
individual was entitled. The additional payment would be in an amount determined
by the Secretary and would be in addition to other amounts payable under the Post9/11 GI Bill.
While VA is in favor of legislation encouraging Veterans to pursue higher education, particularly in programs leading to employment in high-demand fields including science, technology, engineering, and math, we are unable to support the bill
as drafted.
First, the bill could create inequity of payments among Veterans who have all
earned the same benefit. Current chapter 33 beneficiaries are free to pursue programs and degrees that best fit their personal and professional goals, yet this bill
could result in higher payments to certain Veterans based on an individuals decision to pursue a specific degree or career path.
Second, the proposed bill could create an inequity if a beneficiary begins his or
her education by pursuing a STEM degree or a degree leading to a high-demand
occupation and later decides to pursue a degree for which no additional benefit is
granted. If this occurs, two beneficiaries could conceivably complete the same degree
yet have received different payment amounts over the course of their education.
We will be pleased to provide for the record an estimate of the cost of enactment
of this bill.
S. 515
S. 515 would amend title 38, United States Code, to permit a recipient of the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (available to a child of an individual who, on or after September 11, 2001, dies in the line of duty while serving
on active duty) to be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon G.I. Education Enhancement
Program (Yellow Ribbon Program), under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance
Program (Post-9/11 GI Bill). The Yellow Ribbon Program is available to Veterans
and transfer-of-entitlement recipients receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits at the
100% benefit level attending school at a private institution or as a non-resident student at a public institution. The Program provides payment for up to half of the
tuition-and-fee charges that are not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill, if the institu-
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tion enters into an agreement with VA to pay or waive an equal amount of the
charges that exceed Post-9/11 GI Bill coverage. This bill would take effect at the beginning of the academic year after the date of enactment.
VA supports S. 515, but has some concerns, expressed below, that we believe
should be addressed. The enactment of this proposed legislation would require programming changes to VAs Long Term Solution computer processing system. Obviously development funding is not available in VAs fiscal year 2013 budget for the
changes that would be necessitated by enactment of this legislation. If funding is
not made available to support them, manual processes would be required, which
could result in some decrease in timeliness and accuracy of Post-9/11 GI Bill claims.
The effective date for the proposed legislation would be the first academic year after
enactment, which is also problematic. VA estimates that it would require one year
from date of enactment to make the system changes necessary to implement this
bill.
VA estimates that if S. 515 were enacted, the costs to the Readjustment Benefits
account would be $609 thousand in the first year, $3.6 million over 5 years, and
$8.4 million over 10 years. There are no additional FTE or GOE costs associated
with this proposal.
S. 572
S. 572, the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, would provide that a
person who is mentally incapacitated, deemed mentally incompetent, or unconscious
for an extended period will not be considered adjudicated as a mental defective
for purposes of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in the absence of an
order or finding by a judge, magistrate, or other judicial authority that such person
is a danger to himself, herself, or others. The bill would, in effect, exclude VA determinations of incompetency from the coverage of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. VA does not support this bill.
VA determinations of mental incompetency are based generally on whether a person, because of injury or disease, lacks the mental capacity to manage his or her
own financial affairs. We believe adequate protections can be provided to these Veterans under current statutory authority. Under the [National Instant Criminal
Background Check System] NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, individuals whom VA has determined to be incompetent can have their firearms rights restored in two ways: First, a person who has been adjudicated by VA as unable to
manage his or her own affairs can reopen the issue based on new evidence and have
the determination reversed. When this occurs, VA is obligated to notify the Department of Justice to remove the individuals name from the roster of those barred
from possessing and purchasing firearms. Second, even if a person remains adjudicated incompetent by VA for purposes of handling his or her own finances, he or
she is entitled to petition VA to have firearms rights restored on the basis that the
individual poses no threat to public safety. VA has relief procedures in place, and
we are fully committed to continuing to conduct these procedures in a timely and
effective manner to fully protect the rights of our beneficiaries.
Also, the reliance on an administrative incompetency determination as a basis for
prohibiting an individual from possessing or obtaining firearms under Federal law
is not unique to VA or Veterans. Under the applicable Federal regulations implementing the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, any person determined by a
lawful authority to lack the mental capacity to manage his or her own affairs is subject to the same prohibition. By exempting certain VA mental health determinations
that would otherwise prohibit a person from possessing or obtaining firearms under
Federal law, the bill would create a different standard for Veterans and their survivors than that applicable to the rest of the population and could raise public safety
issues.
The enactment of S. 572 would not impose any costs on VA.
S. 629
S. 629, the Honor Americas Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2013, would add to
chapter 1, title 38, United States Code, a provision to honor as Veterans, based on
retirement status, certain persons who performed service in reserve components of
the Armed Forces but who do not have service qualifying for Veteran status under
38 U.S.C. 101(2). The bill provides that such persons would be honored as Veterans, but would not be entitled to any benefit by reason of the amendment.
Under 38 U.S.C. 101(2), Veteran status is conditioned on the performance of active military, naval, or air service. Under current law, a National Guard or Reserve
member is considered to have had such service only if he or she served on active
duty, was disabled or died from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in line
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of duty during active duty for training, or was disabled or died from any injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty or from an acute myocardial infarction, a cardiac arrest, or a cerebrovascular accident during inactive duty training. S. 629
would eliminate these service requirements for National Guard or Reserve members
who served in such a capacity for at least 20 years. Retirement status alone would
make them eligible for Veteran status.
VA recognizes that the National Guard and Reserves have admirably served this
country and in recent years have played an even greater role in our Nations overseas conflicts. Nevertheless, VA does not support this bill because it represents a
departure from active service as the foundation for Veteran status. This bill would
extend Veteran status to those who never performed active military, naval, or air
service, the very circumstance which qualifies an individual as a Veteran. Thus, this
bill would equate longevity of reserve service with the active service long ago established as the hallmark for Veteran status.
VA estimates that there would be no additional benefit or administrative costs associated with this bill if enacted.
S. 674
S. 674, the Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013, would require responses
within a fixed period of time from the heads of covered Federal agencies when the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs requests information necessary to adjudicate claims
for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. Covered agencies would include the Department of Defense (DOD), the Social Security Administration (SSA),
and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
The bill would require covered agencies to provide VA with requested Federal
records within 30 days or submit to VA the reason why records cannot be obtained
within 30 days, along with an estimate as to when the records could be furnished.
If VA does not receive the records within 15 days after the estimated date, then VA
would resubmit such request and the agency must, within 30 days, furnish VA with
the records or provide an explanation of why the records have not been provided
and an estimate of when the records will be provided. The bill would also require
VA to provide notices to the claimant regarding the status of the records requests
and to submit a semiannual report to the Senate and House Committees on Veterans Affairs regarding the progress of records requests for the most recent 6month period.
VA appreciates this effort to accelerate the response times when VA requests
records from Federal agencies that are necessary to adjudicate disability claims.
However, VA opposes this bill because adequate measures are already in place to
facilitate expeditious transfer of records from the identified covered agencies.
Under a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between VA and DOD,
DOD provides VA, at the time of a Servicemembers discharge, a 100-percent-complete service treatment and personnel record in an electronic, searchable format. As
this MOU applies to the 300,000 annually departing Active Duty, National Guard,
and Reserve Servicemembers, it represents a landmark measure that will significantly contribute to VAs efforts to achieve its 125-day goal to complete disability
compensation claims.
VA also continues to work with SSA to enhance information sharing through
SSAs Web-based portal, Government to Government Services Online (GSO). VA and
SSA officials confer weekly to develop strategies to allow VA to more quickly obtain
SSA medical records needed for VA claims. As a result, SSA is now directly
uploading electronic medical records into VBAs electronic document repository at
several regional offices (RO). These improvements are reducing duplication and
streamlining the records transmittal and review processes. VA will continue with
a phased nationwide deployment of this initiative for our new paperless processing
system, beginning with the San Juan Regional Office.
VA is also concerned about the requirement to notify the claimant of the status
of records requests. Although these extra administrative steps would provide additional information to claimants, they also require more work of claims processors
and thus reduce claims processing capacity in ROs. VA wishes to concentrate its resources on eliminating the disability claims backlog.
There are no mandatory costs associated with this proposal. The discretionary
costs associated with this bill cannot be determined, given the speculative nature
of estimating what additional actions would be required of other Federal agencies.
S. 690
S. 690, the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2013, would expand VA benefits
provided for Filipino Veterans of World War II.
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Current law at section 107 of title 38, United States Code, addresses Filipino Veterans of World War II and restricts entitlement to VA benefits as compared to U.S.
military Veterans. Section 107 states that certain service is deemed not to be active
military, naval, or air service for purposes of some VA benefits. Accordingly, that
service does not satisfy the statutory definition of Veteran under section 101(2) of
title 38, United States Code, and persons with such service are not eligible for VA
benefits, except for those benefits specifically provided under section 107.
Section 2(a)(1) and (2) of S. 690 would convert service in the Philippine Commonwealth Army, the Recognized Guerrillas, and the New Philippine Scouts into active
military, naval, or air service for the purpose of VA benefits. Essentially, these individuals would no longer be excluded from the statutory definition of Veteran in
section 101(2) of title 38, United States Code.
Section 2(a)(3) would require VA to make determinations as to whether individuals claiming such service did in fact serve, taking into account any alternative
documentation that the Secretary determines relevant. Although the Secretary
would have discretion to determine what documentation is relevant, this requirement would be a departure from VAs longstanding practice under section 3.203 of
title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, of relying on service department records,
which VA believes to be the most reliable source of service verification. This would
add an evidence-intensive step to the processing of these claims that does not exist
for other claims.
Section 2(a)(4) would relieve persons who become eligible for VA benefits under
this law from the preclusive effect of a provision of the Filipino Veterans Equity
Compensation (FVEC) law, which provided that acceptance of payments from the
fund constituted a complete release of any claims against the United States based
on the types of service qualifying for payment from the fund and described in subsection (a)(1) and (a)(2). In other words, those who were given FVEC payments
could still file traditional claims for benefits under the expanded eligibility criteria
of this bill.
Although VA appreciates and values the service of Filipino Veterans, VA cannot
support S. 690 because it would effect a unique departure, for one group of claimants, from the sound and generally applicable procedures for verification of service
and would accord such claimants potential entitlement to more benefits than other
Veterans, insofar as they would be eligible to receive the full range of VA benefits
in addition to the FVEC payments already received.
Based on the characterization of service as active service, this bill would confer
statutory Veteran status under section 101(2) of title 38, United States Code, upon
Filipino Veterans, entitling them to all VA benefits. This would not change the dollar amount of previously covered benefits ($.50 for each dollar authorized); however,
full benefits under other programs, such as Education, Loan Guaranty, and those
provided by VHA may be extended to certain Filipino Veterans who are not otherwise eligible. This has significant budgetary implications and raises issues of fairness and equity given that Filipino Veterans were authorized to receive payments
from the FVEC fund. Section 2(a)(4) of this bill would rescind section 1002(h)(1) of
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the legislation which authorized FVEC payments. This Act provided that receipt of payment under the FVEC
was a release of all claims against the United States. This bill would rescind that
release notwithstanding the receipt of FVEC payments.
VA currently relies on service department records under section 3.203 of title 38,
Code of Federal Regulations, to determine what service a claimant rendered. That
policy and the resulting procedures would be invalidated by this bill for persons
claiming this service. Section 2(a)(3) would require VA to consider alternative documentation as proof of service and make a determination on service verification. VA
believes the current requirements and processes are both reasonable and important
to maintain the integrity of this benefit program.
VA will provide its cost estimate for S. 690 for the record at a later time.
S. 695
S. 695 would amend section 322 of title 38, United States Code, to extend for 5
years (through FY 2018) the yearly $2 million appropriations authorization for VA
to pay a monthly assistance allowance to disabled Veterans who are invited to compete for a slot on, or have been selected for, the U.S. Paralympic Team in an amount
equal to the monthly amount of subsistence allowance that would be payable to the
Veteran under chapter 31, title 38, United States Code, if the Veteran were eligible
for and entitled to rehabilitation under such chapter. S. 695 also would amend section 521A of title 38 to extend for 5 years (through FY 2018) VAs appropriations
authorization, with amounts appropriated remaining available without fiscal year
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limitation, for grants to United States Paralympics, Inc. (now the United States
Olympic Committee) to plan, develop, manage, and implement an integrated adaptive sport program for disabled Veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forces.
These Paralympic programs have experienced ongoing improvement and expansion
of benefits to disabled Veterans and disabled Servicemembers, to include 115 Veterans qualifying for the monthly assistance allowance, and over 1,900 Paralympic
grant events with over 16,000 Veteran participants during FY 2012. Under current
law, both authorities will expire at the end of FY 2013.
VA supports extension of these authorities, but recommends further revisions, to
improve the accessibility and equity of these programs, by extending monthly assistance allowances to disabled Veterans who are invited to compete for a slot on, or
have been selected for, the United States Olympic Team (not just the Paralympic
Team) or Olympic and Paralympic teams representing the American Samoa, Guam,
Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, by authorizing grants to those Olympic and Paralympic sports entities, and by clarifying that
the current authority to award grants is to promote programs for all adaptive sports
and not just Paralympic sports.
VA estimates there would be no costs associated with implementing this bill.
S. 705
S. 705, the War Memorial Protection Act of 2013, would add a new section 2115
to title 36, United States Code, Chapter 21, which governs the operations of the
American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), to authorize the inclusion of religious symbols as part of any military memorial established or acquired by the U.S.
Government or military memorials established in cooperation with ABMC.
Presently, VAs role in ABMCs monument authority is limited to a single mention
in 36 U.S.C. 2105(b) that [t]he Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall maintain works
of architecture and art built by the Commission in the National Cemetery [Administration], as described in section 2400(b) of title 38. The only known ABMC facility
on VA property is the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of
the Pacific.
As this bill does not mention VA, nor does VA establish U.S. Government or military memorials, VA defers to the ABMC regarding this bill.
S. 748
S. 748, the Veterans Pension Protection Act, would amend sections 1522 and
1543 of title 38, United States Code, to establish in VAs pension programs a lookback and penalty period of up to 36 months for those claimants who dispose of resources for less than fair market value that could otherwise be used for their maintenance.
Subsection (a) would amend the net worth limitations applicable to Veterans pension in section 1522 of title 38, United States Code. If a Veteran (or a Veterans
spouse) disposes of assets before the date of the Veterans pension claim, VA currently does not generally consider those assets as part of the Veterans net worth,
so long as the transfer was a gift to a person or entity other than a relative living
in the same household. As amended, section 1522 would provide that when a Veteran (or Veterans spouse) disposes of covered resources for less than fair market
value on or after the beginning date of a 36-month look-back period, the disposal
may result in a period of ineligibility for pension. In such cases, the law would provide for a period of ineligibility for pension beginning the first day of the month in
or after which the resources were disposed of and which does not occur in any other
period of ineligibility.
Subsection (a) would also provide a method for calculating the period of ineligibility for pension resulting from a disposal of covered resources at less than fair
market value. The period of ineligibility, expressed in months, would be the total
uncompensated value of all applicable covered resources disposed of by the Veteran
(or the Veterans spouse) divided by the maximum amount of monthly pension that
would have been payable to the Veteran under section 1513 or 1521 without consideration of the transferred resources.
This subsection would also give VA authority to promulgate regulations under
which VA would consider a transfer of an asset, including a transfer to an annuity,
trust, or other financial instrument or investment, to be a transfer at less than fair
market value, if the transfer reduced the Veterans net worth for pension purposes
and VA determines that, under all the circumstances, the resources would reasonably be consumed for maintenance.
Subsection (a) would also provide that VA shall not deny or discontinue payment
of pension under sections 1513 and 1521 or payment of increased pension under
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subsections (c), (d), (e), or (f) of section 1521 on account of a child based on the penalty and look-back periods established by sections (a)(2) or (b)(2) of the bill if: (1)
the claimant demonstrates to VA that the resources disposed of for less than fair
market value have been returned to the transferor; or (2) VA determines that the
denial would work an undue hardship.
Finally, subsection (a) would require VA to inform Veterans of the asset transfer
provisions of the bill and obtain information for making determinations pertaining
to such transfers.
VA supports in principle the look-back and penalty-period provisions of subsection
(a), but cannot support the bill as written because of the manner in which the
length of the penalty period would be calculated. Our reading of the bill indicates
that the method used to calculate the penalty period in proposed section
1522(a)(2)(E)(i), the total, cumulative uncompensated value of all covered resources, could be unnecessarily punitive because VA might have determined that
only a small portion of the covered resources should have been used for the Veterans maintenance. VA has similar concerns with language in proposed section
1522(b)(2)(E)(i).
VA proposes, as an alternative, that the dividend under proposed section
1522(a)(2)(E)(i) be, the total, cumulative uncompensated value of the portion of the
covered resources so disposed of by the veteran (or the spouse of the veteran) on
or after the look-back date described in subparagraph (C)(i), that the Secretary determines would reasonably have been consumed for the Veterans maintenance;.
We propose that similar language be used in section 1522(b)(2)(E)(i).
Apart from the concerns expressed regarding the method for calculating the penalty period, VA supports this subsection of the bill, which would clarify current law
by prescribing that pension applicants cannot create a need for pension by gifting
assets that the applicant could use for the applicants own maintenance. It would
also clarify that an applicant cannot restructure assets during the 36-month period
preceding a pension application through transfers using certain financial products
or legal instruments, such as annuities and trusts. A 2012 Government Accountability Office study found that there is a growing industry that markets these products and instruments to vulnerable Veterans and survivors, potentially causing
them harm. Subsection (a) would amend the law in a manner that will authorize
VAs implementation of necessary program integrity measures.
Subsection (b) of S. 748 would amend the net worth limitations applicable to survivors pension in section 1543 of title 38, United States Code. Subsection (b) of the
bill would apply to surviving spouses and surviving children the same restrictions
pertaining to disposal of covered resources at less than fair market value as would
be applied to Veterans under subsection (a). This subsection would also provide that
if the surviving spouse transferred assets during the Veterans lifetime that resulted
in a period of ineligibility for the Veteran, VA would apply any period of ineligibility
remaining after the Veterans death to the surviving spouse.
As with subsection (a), VA supports in principle the look back and penalty period
provisions of subsection (b), but cannot support the bill as written because of the
manner in which the length of the penalty period would be calculated. VA has the
same concerns with the methodology language in proposed sections 1543(a)(2)(E)(i)
and (b)(2)(E)(i) as expressed above pertaining to sections 1522(a)(2)(E)(i) and
(b)(2)(E)(i).
VA opposes carrying over a penalty based on a transfer of assets made during the
Veterans lifetime to a pension claim filed by a surviving spouse because it could
be potentially punitive. Under proposed paragraph (a)(2)(C) of section 1543, VA
would apply the same 36-month look-back period to surviving spouses that it applies
to Veterans. If the Veteran died soon after his or her pension claim was filed and
the surviving spouse filed a claim for pension within 36 months of the Veterans
pension claim, VA would evaluate resource transfers that the surviving spouse made
during the Veterans lifetime under section 1543(a)(2)(C). However, if the surviving
spouse did not claim pension until many years after the Veterans pension claim or
many years after the Veterans death, under proposed section 1543(a)(2)(F), VA
would apply the remainder of any penalty period assessed the Veteran based on a
spouses pre-death transfer of assets. In applying a penalty period based on a very
old transaction to a new pension claim, this provision could be viewed as imposing
a much longer look-back period for surviving spouses than that proposed for Veterans. Because VA will evaluate the surviving spouses claim for pension on its own
merits, VA proposes that the penalty-period carry-over provisions be eliminated.
Subsection (c) would provide that the amendments to section 1522(a)(2), (b)(2),
and (c), and section 1543(a)(2), (a)(4), (b)(2), and (c) prescribed in the bill would take
effect one year after the date of enactment and would apply to applications filed
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after the effective date as well as to any pension redetermination occurring after the
effective date.
Subsection (d) provides for annual reports from VA to Congress, beginning not
later than two years after the date of enactment, as to: (1) the number of individuals
who applied for pension; (2) the number of individuals who received pension; and
(3) the number of individuals whose pension payments were denied or discontinued
because covered resources were disposed of for less than fair market value.
VA would not oppose inclusion of subsections (c) and (d) if the bill were amended
as we recommend.
We lack sufficient data to estimate benefit or administrative costs associated with
this proposal.
S. 893
S. 893, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013,

would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase, effective December 1,
2013, the rates of disability compensation for service-disabled Veterans and the
rates of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) for survivors of Veterans.
This bill would increase these rates by the same percentage as the percentage by
which Social Security benefits are increased effective December 1, 2013. The bill
would not, however, account for the expiration at the end of this fiscal year of the
feature in current law that rounds down to the next lower whole dollar amount
those increases not in whole dollars. The bill would also require VA to publish the
resulting increased rates in the Federal Register.
VA strongly supports annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for these important compensation programs because they express, in a tangible way, this Nations
gratitude for the sacrifices made by our service-disabled Veterans and their surviving spouses and children and would ensure that the value of their well-deserved
benefits will keep pace with increases in consumer prices. However, VA recommends
the current round down statutory provisions be extended. We recommend amending sections 1303(a) and 1104(a) of title 38, United States Code, to provide a 5-year
extension of the round-down provisions of the computation of the COLA for serviceconnected disability compensation and DIC. Public Law 108183 extended the ending dates of these provisions to 2013. The extension for the COLA round down provision beyond the 2013 expiration date results in cost savings. The benefit savings to
round down the FY 2014 COLA are estimated to be $41.6 million in FY 2014,
$712.5 million for 5 years, and $2.3 billion over 10 years as a result of the
compounding effects of rounding down the COLA in subsequent years.
S. 894
S. 894 would amend section 3485(a)(4) of title 38, United States Code, extending
for 3 years (through June 30, 2016) VAs authority to provide work-study allowances
for certain already-specified activities. Under current law, the authority is set to expire on June 30, 2013.
Public Law 107103, the Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act of
2001, established a 5-year pilot program under section 3485(a)(4) that expanded
qualifying work-study activities to include outreach programs with State Approving
Agencies, an activity relating to the administration of a National Cemetery or a
State Veterans Cemetery, and assisting with the provision of care to Veterans in
State Homes. Subsequent public laws extended the period of the pilot program and,
most recently, section 101 of Public Law 111275, the Veterans Benefits Act of
2010, extended the sunset date from June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2013.
S. 894 also would add a provision to section 3485(a) that would authorize for a
3-year period from June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2016, work-study activities to be carried out at the offices of Members of Congress for such Members. Work-study participants would distribute information about benefits and services under laws administered by VA and other appropriate governmental and non-governmental programs to Servicemembers, Veterans, and their dependents. Work-study participants
would also prepare and process papers and other documents, including documents
to assist in the preparation and presentation of claims for benefits under laws administered by VA.
Finally, S. 894 would require VA, not later than June 30 each year beginning with
2014 and ending with 2016, to submit a report to Congress on the work-study allowances paid during the most recent 1-year period for qualifying work-study activities.
Each report would include a description of the recipients of the allowances, a list
of the locations where qualifying work-study activities were carried out and a description of the outreach conducted by VA to increase awareness of the eligibility
of such work-study activities for work-study allowances.
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VA does not oppose legislation that would extend the current expiration date of
the work-study provisions to June 30, 2016. However, we would prefer that the legislation provide a permanent authorization of the work-study activities, rather than
extending repeatedly for short time periods.
VA has no objection to work-study participants conducting and promoting the outreach activities and services contemplated by the bill. We also have no objection to
work-study participants assisting in the preparation and processing of papers and
other documents, including documents to assist in the preparation and presentation
of claims for VA benefits under the proposed new section. However, work-study
participants would be subject to the limitations found in chapter 59 of title 38 on
representing claimants for VA benefits.
VA does not oppose submitting annual reports to Congress regarding the workstudy program.
S. 922
Section 3 of S. 922, the Veterans Equipped for Success Act of 2013 would require VA, in collaboration with the Department of Labor (DOL), to create a 3-year
pilot program in four locations of VAs choosing to assess the feasibility and advisability of offering career transition services to eligible Veterans. Such services would
provide work experience in the civilian sector, increase participants marketable
skills, assist them to obtain gainful employment, and assist in integrating eligible
individuals into their local communities. These services would be available to unemployed or underemployed Veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable and to members of the National Guard or Reserve Component who served at
least 180 days on active-duty within 2 years of applying for the program. Not more
than 50,000 eligible individuals would participate in this pilot program concurrently, and the program would be limited to participants between 18 and 30 years
of age.
Career transition services offered would include:
InternshipsParticipants would receive an internship on a full-time basis with
an eligible employer as determined by VA. Among other restrictions, eligible employers would not include state or Federal Government agencies, those that derive
75 percent or more of their revenue from state and/or Federal Government, or employers that unsatisfactorily participated in the pilot previously. Such internships
would last for 1 year, and interns would be paid by VA at the greater rate of an
amount consistent with the minimum wage protections of the Fair Labor Standards
Act or if the intern was receiving it, the rate of unemployment compensation, up
to $30,000. For the purpose of health benefits and on-the-job injuries, interns would
be considered VA employees.
Mentorship and job-shadowingEmployers would be required to provide interns at least one mentor who would provide job-shadowing and career-counseling
opportunities throughout the internship.
Volunteer opportunitiesParticipants in the pilot program would be required to
participate each month in a qualified volunteer activity, as determined by VA. Such
volunteer activities could include outreach, service at an institution of higher learning or for a recognized Veterans Service Organization, and/or assistance provided
to or for the benefit of Veterans in a State home or VA medical facility.
Professional skill workshopsAs part of the pilot, VA would be required to provide workshops to interns to develop and build their professional skills.
Skills assessmentVA would be required to provide skills assessment testing
to participants to help them select an appropriate place to perform their internship.
Additional servicesVA would provide, in addition to the services outlined
above, career and job counseling, job-search assistance, follow-up services, and reimbursement of transportation expenses up to 75 miles.
VA could provide grants for up to four non-profit entities to administer this pilot.
The bill would require VA and DOL to conduct a joint outreach campaign to advertise the pilot. VA would be authorized to develop an awards system by which exemplary employers and interns might be recognized.
VA would provide a report to Congress each year of the pilot containing an evaluation of the program, information about program participants and their internships, and intern job-placement rates, including wages and nature of employment
among other data.
VA supports initiatives to assist Veterans in obtaining meaningful employment.
While VA appreciates the intent underlying this bill, VA has several concerns with
the program outlined in this legislation, including the following:
First, the requirement that the internship pilot begin in January 2014 would create a significant challenge. VA would have less than 1 year from enactment to, in
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addition to other tasks: conduct a study of Veteran unemployment and population
densities; select four pilot locations based on that study; create eligibility criteria for
both employers and interns; solicit and approve applications from employers; once
employers are identified, solicit and approve applications from interns; and match
interns with employers. These tasks would require extensive coordination between
VA and other stakeholders. Second, VA points out that this bill lacks specific information on the scope of the pilot program. The bill does not specify how many interns
should be placed or how those interns should be dispersed across the four pilot locations. Additionally, the bill requires that participants be between the ages of 18 and
30. VA notes that the most recent data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
shows that Veterans aged 18 to 30 comprise less than 20 percent of currently unemployed Veterans. The third challenge posed by this bill is the requirement that VA
establish criteria to determine an employers eligibility to participate in the pilot.
Among other factors, VA must consider prior investigations by the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC), the employers standing with states business bureaus, tax delinquency, and the employers reliance on state and Federal Governments as a source
of revenue. VA would need to develop agreements with the FTC, Internal Revenue
Service, and DOL to acquire this data. Additionally, the bill requires VA to consider
whether interns comprise over 10 percent of an employers workforce when placing
additional interns with that employer. The language of the bill is unclear, however,
on whether 10 percent is a cap or simply a factor to consider when placing interns
in a workplace.
It would be challenging and costly for VA to create a payment system as described
in the bill. The bill would require VA to issue payments to interns, which would
require VA to determine hours worked in a given pay period, calculate salary
earned, and issue payments. VAs current payment systems are designed to provide
benefits payments in pre-determined increments on a monthly schedule. The closest
analogous payment structure VA currently uses that could fulfill the requirements
of the bill is our work-study process. Veterans who participate in the work-study
program submit hard-copy time sheets, and VA performs a manual calculation of
benefits earned and issues payment. In order to issue payments as required by this
bill, VA would need an entirely new electronic payment system which would require
both time and funding to develop.
Most of the cost of administering the pilot would be incurred up front by VA.
VA would need funding to significantly expand its full-time, employment-focused
staff, develop a new IT system to provide interns payments, and process applications from both employers and Veterans. This issue would be further complicated
by the legislations restriction that no more than 5 percent of any appropriations
made be used to administer the pilot. At the outset, VA would have no data from
which to project how many Veterans may sign up for the pilot, and therefore would
not know how much funding VA could apply toward administering the program. Because we cannot predict the scope and size of the program at its outset, The Administration has already undertaken numerous efforts to address unemployment among
our Nations veterans. Online resources including the Veterans Job Bank and My
Next Move for Veterans help match unemployed veterans with jobs best suited to
their unique skill sets. With the new Veterans Gold Card, Post-9/11 veterans are
entitled to enhanced services and personalized case management, assessment, and
counseling at the roughly 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers located nationwide. VA
and DOL are currently piloting a newly enhanced Transition Assistance Program
designed to make sure newly separating servicemembers never become unemployed.
VA will provide a cost estimate for S. 922 at a later date.
S. 928
S. 928, the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013 would amend title 38,
United States Code, to improve the processing of claims for compensation under
laws administered by the Secretary of VA, and for other purposes. VA will provide
later for the record its views on sections 101,102, 104, 105, 106, and 203 of the draft
bill.
Currently, section 5103A(c)(2) of title 38, United States Code, requires VA, when
requesting records on a claimants behalf from a Federal department or agency, to
continue to request records until VA obtains them or it is reasonably certain that
such records do not exist or that further efforts to obtain them would be futile. VA
is rarely able to determine with certainty that particular records do not exist or that
further efforts to obtain them would be futile. Under current law, VA regional offices experience significant challenges and delays in their attempts to obtain certain
non-VA Federal records, particularly service treatment records for National Guard
and Reserve members who have been activated. While VA is currently working with
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other Federal agencies to improve the process of procuring non-VA Federal records,
past efforts to obtain records from other government agencies have significantly delayed adjudication of pending disability claims.
Section 103 of this draft bill would provide that, when VA attempts to obtain
records from a Federal department or agency other than a component of VA itself,
it shall make not fewer than two attempts to obtain the records, unless the records
are obtained or the response to the first request makes evident that a second request would be futile. Section 103 would also ensure that if any relevant record requested by VA from a Federal department or agency before adjudication is later provided, the relevant record would be treated as though it was submitted as of the
date of the original filing of the claim. This provision would streamline the process
for obtaining non-VA Federal records, would further balance the responsibilities of
VA and Veterans to obtain evidence in support of a claim, and would allow VA to
better address its pending inventory of disability claims. Section 103 would provide
a more feasible and realistic standard in this time of limited resources and burgeoning claim inventory, which would help ensure valuable resources are focused
most effectively on what will make a difference for faster more accurate adjudications of Veterans claims.
VA supports section 103 of this bill, which is similar to one of VAs legislative proposals in the FY 2014 budget submission.
No benefit costs or savings would be associated with this section.
Section 104 would amend section 5902(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code, to include Indian tribes with the American National Red Cross, the American Legion,
the Disabled American Veterans, the United Spanish War Veterans, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars as an enumerated organization whose representatives may
be recognized by the Secretary in the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of
claims under laws administered by the Secretary.
VA does not support section 104 of S. 928. With the exception of the American
National Red Cross, which provides services generally as a charitable organization,
the organizations listed in current section 5902(a)(1) have as a primary purpose
serving Veterans. Indian tribes are not charitable organizations, nor do they have
as a primary purpose serving Veterans; therefore, VA does not believe Indian tribes
should be named among these organizations in the statute. Under this bill as drafted, all Indian tribes, regardless of their size, capability, and resources to represent
VA claimants, would essentially receive similar treatment as organizations recognized by VA for the purpose of providing representation to VA claimants. In other
words, under section 14.629(a) of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, Indian tribes
could certify to VA that certain members are qualified to represent claimants before
VA for the purpose of obtaining VA accreditation for those members, despite the
tribes not meeting all the requirements for recognition under section 14.628 of title
38, Code of Federal Regulations.
Pursuant to the authority granted in section 5902(a), VA has established in section 14.628 of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, the requirements for recognition
of organizations to assist claimants in the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of claims under laws administered by the Secretary. Under this regulation, the
organization must, among other requirements, have as a primary purpose serving
veterans, demonstrate a substantial service commitment to Veterans, and commit
a significant portion of its assets to Veterans services. VA believes these are necessary characteristics of an organization whose representatives will be recognized in
providing such assistance to Veterans. Indian tribes necessarily engage in a much
broader scope of governance activities and operations and, therefore, generally do
not have the Veteran-specific focus that is common to the organizations (save for
the American Red Cross) recognized pursuant to section 5902(a)(1) of title 38,
United States Code, and the VA regulations implementing that statute.
Currently, a member of an Indian tribe may request accreditation to assist Veterans in the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of claims for VA benefits as
an agent or attorney under section 14.629(b) of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, or as a representative of a currently recognized Veterans Service Organization. Thus, a member of an Indian tribe may be individually recognized by the Secretary to assist Veterans despite Indian tribes not being included among the enumerated organizations in section 5902(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code.
Section 201 of the bill would amend section 7105(b)(1) of title 38, United States
Code, to require persons seeking appellate review of a VA decision to file a notice
of disagreement (NOD) within 180 days from the date VA mails such decision to
the claimant. Currently, persons challenging a decision of a VA agency of original
jurisdiction (AOJ) have one year from the date the AOJ mails the decision to initiate
an appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) by filing a NOD. This provision
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would reduce the time period for initiating appellate review from one year to 180
days.
The intent behind this provision is to allow VA to more quickly resolve claims and
appeals. Currently, VA must wait up to one year to determine if a claimant disagrees with a decision on a claim for benefits. If a claimant waits until the end of
the 1-year period to file a NOD, VA is often required to re-develop the record to
ensure the evidence of record is up to date. Data support the conclusion that such
late-term development delays the resolution of the claim. If the period in which to
file a NOD were reduced, VA could more quickly finalize the administrative processing of claims not being appealed and focus resources on the processing of new
claims and appeals. Accordingly, adoption of this proposal would allow VA to more
actively manage cases and work toward a faster resolution of claims and appeals.
Because most claimants are able to quickly determine if they are satisfied with
VAs decision on their claims and because the NOD is a relatively simple document,
enactment of this provision would not adversely affect claimants for VA benefits.
The average filing time for NODs demonstrates that most claimants file their NOD
shortly after receiving notice of VAs decision, and, consequently, claimants would
not be adversely affected by this amendment.
VA supports this provision. VA submitted a similar proposal with the FY 2014
budget request. While this proposal is clearly a step in the right direction, VA believes that further changes are needed in what currently is an extraordinarily
lengthy and cumbersome appellate process in order to provide Veterans with timely
resolution of their appeals. VA believes there is a need to further shorten the timeframe for Veterans to initiate appellate review to 60 days. Data show that most appeals are filed within the first 30 days following notice to a claimant of VAs decision
on a claim. We therefore believe this 60-day time period would still protect Veterans rights to appeal VAs decisions while bringing the appeal filing period more
in line with that of Federal district courts and the Social Security Administration,
which allows 60 days for appeal of the initial agency decision.
This proposal has no measurable monetary costs or savings. However, VA estimates that enactment of the proposal would result in more expeditious adjudication
of claims because VA would not have to wait one year from the date of an adverse
decision to determine whether a claimant intended to file an appeal. Under this proposal, VA would have to wait only 180 days for such determination and could therefore more timely process the appeal.
Section 202 would allow for greater use of video conference hearings by the Board,
while still providing Veterans with the opportunity to request an in-person hearing
if they so elect. This provision would apply to cases received by the Board pursuant
to a NOD submitted on or after the date of the enactment of the Act. VA fully supports section 202 as drafted, as this provision would potentially decrease hearing
wait times for Veterans, enhance efficiency within VA, and better focus Board resources toward issuing more final decisions.
The Board has historically been able to schedule video conference hearings more
quickly than in-person hearings, saving valuable time in the appeals process for
Veterans who elect this type of hearing. In FY 2012, on average, video conference
hearings were held almost 100 days sooner than in-person hearings. Section 202
would allow both the Board and Veterans to capitalize on these time savings by giving the Board greater flexibility to schedule video conference hearings than is possible under the current statutory scheme.
Historical data also shows that there is no statistical difference in the ultimate
disposition of appeals based on the type of hearing selected. Veterans who had video
conference hearings had an allowance rate for their appeals that was virtually the
same as Veterans who had in-person hearings, only Veterans who had video conference hearings were able to have their hearings scheduled much more quickly.
Section 202 would, however, still afford Veterans who want an in-person hearing
with the opportunity to specifically request one.
Enactment of section 202 could also lead to more final decisions for Veterans as
a result of increased productivity at the Board. Time lost due to travel and time
lost in the field due to appellants failing to show up for their hearing would be
greatly reduced, allowing Veterans Law Judges (VLJs) to better focus their time and
resources on issuing decisions. The time saved for VLJs could translate into additional final Board decisions for Veterans.
Major technological upgrades to the Boards video conference hearing equipment
over the past several years have resulted in the Board being well-positioned for the
enactment of section 202. These upgrades include the purchase of high-definition
video equipment, a state-of-the art digital audio recording system, implementation
of a virtual hearing docket, and significantly increased video conference hearing capacity. These upgrades also include expanding the video conferencing system to
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other strategic satellite sites in the continental United States, Puerto Rico, Guam,
American Samoa, and the Philippines to support Veterans living in remote areas.
Section 202 would allow the Board to better leverage these important technological
enhancements.
In short, section 202 would result in shorter hearing wait times, better focus
Board resources on issuing more decisions, and provide maximum flexibility for both
Veterans and VA, while fully utilizing recent technological improvements. VA therefore strongly endorses this proposal.
Section 301 of the bill would extend the authority currently provided by section
315(b) of title 38, United States Code, to maintain the operations of VAs Manila
RO from December 31, 2013, to December 31, 2014. Maintaining an RO in the Philippines has two principal advantages. First, it is more cost effective to maintain the
facility in Manila than it would be to transfer its functions and hire equivalent
numbers of employees to perform those functions on the U.S. mainland. Because the
Manila RO employs mostly foreign nationals who receive a lower rate of pay than
U.S. Government employees, transferring that offices responsibilities to a U.S. location would result in increased payroll costs. Second, VAs presence in Manila significantly enhances its ability to manage potential fraud. In an FY 2002 study of Philippine benefit payments, the VA Inspector General stated: VA payments in the
Philippines represent significant sums of money. That, coupled with extreme poverty and a general lack of economic opportunity, fosters an environment for fraudulent activity. Relocation of claims processing for VA benefits arising from Philippine
service would result in less control of potential fraud. VA would lose the expertise
the Manila staff applies to these claims and would need time to develop such expertise at a mainland site. Relocation would also diminish the ROs close and effective
working relationship with the VHAs Outpatient Clinic, which is essential for the
corroboration of the evidentiary record. Based on these factors, VA could not maintain the same quality of service to the beneficiaries and the U.S. Government if
claims processing were moved outside of the Philippines.
VA supports this provision and submitted a similar proposal with the FY 2014
budget request. VAs version of the proposal would extend operating authority for
2 years rather than 1 year.
There would be no significant benefits costs or savings associated with this proposal.
Section 302 of the draft bill would amend section 1156(a)(3) of title 38, United
States Code, to extend from 6 months to 18 months the deadline after separation
or discharge from active duty by which VA must schedule a medical examination
for certain Veterans with mental disorders.
Section 1156(a)(3) currently requires VA to schedule a medical examination not
later than 6 months after the date of separation or discharge from active duty for
each Veteran who, as a result of a highly stressful in-service event, has a mental
disorder that is severe enough to bring about the veterans discharge or release from
active duty. However, an examination a mere six months after discharge may lead
to premature conclusions regarding the severity, stability, and prognosis of a Veterans mental disorder. Six months is a relatively short period of treatment, and the
stresses of active-duty trauma and the transition to civilian life may not fully have
manifested themselves after 6 months. An examination conducted up to 18 months
after discharge is more likely to reflect an accurate evaluation of the severity, stability, and prognosis of a Veterans mental disorder.
VA supports section 302 of the bill, which is identical to one of VAs legislative
proposals in the FY 2014 budget submission.
This provision will not result in cost savings or benefits.
Section 303 of the draft bill would amend section 1541(f)(1)(E) of title 38, United
States Code, to extend eligibility for death pension to certain surviving spouses of
Persian Gulf War Veterans who were married for less than 1 year; had no child
born of, or before, the marriage; and were married on or after January 1, 2001.
Section 1541 authorizes the payment of pension to the surviving spouse of a wartime Veteran who met certain service requirements or of a Veteran who was entitled to receive compensation or retirement pay for a service-connected disability
when the Veteran died. Section 1541(f) prohibits the payment of such a pension unless: (1) the surviving spouse was married to the Veteran for at least 1 year immediately preceding the Veterans death; (2) a child was born of the marriage or to the
couple before the marriage; or (3) the marriage occurred before a delimiting date
specified in section 1541(f)(1). The current delimiting date applicable to a surviving
spouse of a Gulf War Veteran is January 1, 2001. Section 303 would eliminate those
restrictions and extend that delimiting date.
The Persian Gulf War Veterans Benefits Act of 1991 established the delimiting
marriage date of January 1, 2001, when pension eligibility was initially extended to
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surviving spouses of Veterans of the Gulf War. However, due to the duration of the
Gulf War, this date is no longer consistent with the other marriage delimiting dates
in section 1541(f)(1). Generally, these delimiting dates are set for the day following
10 years after the war or conflict officially ended, (e.g., the Korean War officially
ended on January 31, 1955; the applicable delimiting date is February 1, 1965). As
provided in section 101(33) of title 38, United States Code, the official Persian Gulf
War period, which began on August 2, 1990, is still ongoing and will end on a date
to be prescribed by Presidential proclamation or law. Revising the marriage delimiting date for surviving spouses of Gulf War Veterans to 10 years and 1 day after
the end of the war as prescribed by Presidential proclamation or law would make
that delimiting date consistent with the other dates in section 1541(f)(1) and would
prevent any potentially incongruous results in death pension claims based on Gulf
War service compared to claims based on other wartime service. Furthermore, because the Gulf War has not yet ended, the language in this amendment would ensure that a standing 10-year qualifying period will be in place for surviving spouses
seeking pension based on Gulf War service.
There would be no significant benefit costs or savings associated with this proposal.
Section 304 of the draft bill would amend section 5110(l) of title 38, United States
Code, to make the effective date provision consistent with section 103(e), which provides: The marriage of a child of a veteran shall not bar recognition of such child
as the child of the veteran for benefit purposes if the marriage is void, or has been
annulled by a court with basic authority to render annulment decrees unless the
Secretary determines that the annulment was secured through fraud by either party
or collusion. Section 103(e) implies that a childs marriage that is not void and has
not been annulled does bar recognition of the child as a child of the Veteran for VA
benefit purposes, even if the marriage was terminated by death or divorce. In fact,
section 8004 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 repealed a prior provision in section 103(e) that [t]he marriage of a child of a veteran shall not bar
the recognition of such child as the child of the veteran for benefit purposes if the
marriage has been terminated by death or has been dissolved by a court with basic
authority to render divorce decrees unless the Veterans Administration determines
that the divorce was secured through fraud by either party or collusion.
Nevertheless, no amendment has been made to the corresponding effective date
provision in section 5110(l), which still provides an effective date for an award or
increase in benefits based on recognition of a child upon termination of the childs
marriage by death or divorce. Section 304 of the bill would delete that provision
from section 5110(l) and make section 5110(l) consistent with section 103(e).
There would be no costs or savings associated with this technical amendment.
Section 305 of the draft bill would amend section 704(a) of the Veterans Benefits
Act of 2003, Public Law 108183, which authorizes VA to provide for the conduct
of VA compensation and pension examinations by persons other than VA employees
by using appropriated funds other than mandatory funds appropriated for the payment of compensation and pension. In accordance with section 704(b), VA exercises
this authority pursuant to contracts with private entities. However, under section
704(c), as amended by section 105 of the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of
2008, by section 809 of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2010, and by section 207 of
the VA Major Construction Authorization and Expiring Authorities Extension Act
of 2012, this authority will expire on December 31, 2013.
Section 305(a) of the bill would extend VAs authority to provide compensation
and pension examinations by contract examiners for another year. The continuation
of this authority is essential to VAs ability to continue to provide prompt and highquality medical disability examinations for our Veterans. If this authority is allowed
to expire, VA will not be able to provide contracted disability examinations to Veterans in need of examinations. Extending the authority for another year would enable VA to effectively utilize supplemental and other appropriated funds to respond
to increasing demands for medical disability examinations. Contracting for examinations is essential to VAs objective of ensuring timely adjudication of disability compensation claims and allows the VHA to better focus its resources on providing
needed heath care to Veterans.
Section 305(b) of the bill would require VA to provide to the House and Senate
Committees on Veterans Affairs a report within 180 days of enactment of the bill.
The report would have to include extensive information regarding medical exams
furnished by VA from FY 2009 to FY 2012. Similarly, section 305(c) would require
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VA to provide a report to the same committees in the same timeframe regarding
Acceptable Clinical Evidence.
VA supports section 305(a) of this bill and submitted a similar proposal with the
FY 2014 budget request. VAs version of the proposal would extend operating authority for five years rather than one year.
VA does not oppose the reporting requirements of sections 305(b) and 305(c); however, one year rather than 180 days would provide adequate time to compile the
data needed to comply with the detailed reporting requirements and to adequately
coordinate review of the report before submission.
No benefit or administrative costs would result from enactment of this provision.
S. 939
Section 1 of this draft bill would amend section 7103 of title 38, United States
Code, to provide that the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) or Agency of Original
Jurisdiction (AOJ) shall treat any document received from a person adversely affected by a decision of the Board expressing disagreement with that Board decision
as a motion for reconsideration when that document is submitted to the Board or
AOJ not later than 120 days after the date of the Board decision and an appeal with
the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Veterans Court) has not
been filed. The section would further explain that a document will not be considered
as a motion for reconsideration if the Board or AOJ determines that the document
expresses an intent to appeal the decision to the Court and forwards the document
to the Court in time for receipt before the appeal filing deadline. As explained
below, VA has several concerns with the draft legislation.
Proposed new section 7103(c)(1) would state that a document filed within 120
days of a Board decision that expresses disagreement with such decision shall be
treated as a motion for reconsideration. We believe this draft standard would prove
too vague and would result in an excessive amount of uncertainty for reviewers determining how to classify a piece of correspondence. The Board and AOJ receive a
significant amount of correspondence on a regular basis. The fact that a piece of correspondence is received at the Board or AOJ after a Board decision does not necessarily mean that the appellant intends to challenge that Board decision, nor does
it necessarily indicate an expression of disagreement with a Board decision. An appellant could be contacting VA to challenge a Board decision by way of a motion
to vacate the decision, a motion to revise the decision based on clear and unmistakable error, or a motion for reconsiderationall types of motions that imply some
level of disagreement. Additionally, an appellant could be contacting VA after a
Board decision to file a new claim, reopen an old claim, check on the status of a
claim, or simply express a generalized complaint, without intending to initiate an
appeal. In order for Board or AOJ correspondence reviewers to be able to properly
identify an appellants intent from a piece of correspondence, it is not unreasonable
to require the appellant to articulate the purpose of his or her correspondence and
the result he or she is seeking. Allowing an appellant to seek reconsideration by
merely expressing disagreement with a final Board decision would not provide reviewers with sufficient ability to distinguish whether the appellant is seeking a motion for reconsideration or some other legitimate action, such as a motion to vacate
a Board decision or a motion to challenge based on clear and unmistakable error.
This broad standard would, in turn, result in greater uncertainty and delay in an
already heavily burdened system while benefiting few Veterans. The current proposals broad language will likely lead to reconsideration rulings in cases where the
appellant was not seeking further appellate review and would occupy limited adjudicative resources, thus delaying the claims of other Veterans.
Under section 20.1001(a) of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, a motion for reconsideration must set forth clearly and specifically the alleged obvious error, or
errors, of fact or law in the applicable decision, or decisions, of the Board or other
appropriate basis for requesting Reconsideration. Further, the discretion of the
Chairman or his delegate to grant reconsideration of an appellate decision is limited
to the following grounds: (a) upon allegation of obvious error of fact or law; (b) upon
discovery of new and material evidence in the form of relevant records or reports
of the service department concerned; or (c) upon allegation that an allowance of benefits by the Board has been materially influenced by false or fraudulent evidence
submitted by or on behalf of the appellant. Although VA construes all claimants filings liberally, under these governing regulations, a document that expresses general
disagreement with a Board decision would not be construed a motion for reconsideration.
The draft legislation would, however, require VA to consider such general statements of dissatisfaction or disagreement to be motions for reconsideration, thereby
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considerably broadening and weakening the standard required to render a Board decision nonfinal. This could cause confusion among correspondence reviewers. In fact,
the standard contemplated by the draft legislation would be lower than the standard used to determine whether a document is a notice of disagreement (NOD) with
an AOJ decision, pursuant to section 20.201 of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations.
Moreover, the language of proposed new section 7103(c)(1) indicates that the
lower standard would only apply to documents submitted within the 120-day period
for appeal to the Veterans Court. This would essentially result in two standards
being applied to motions for reconsideration based on whether the appellant submits
the motion before or after the 120-day appeal period. Such different standards
would understandably result in confusion in determining whether a document is a
reconsideration motion.
Proposed new section 7103(c)(2) indicates that VA will not treat a submitted document as a motion for reconsideration if VA determines that the document expresses
an intent to appeal the Board decision to the Veterans Court and forwards that document to the court, and the court receives the document within the statutory deadline to appeal the Board decision. The draft legislation appears to make VAs determination of whether a document is a motion for reconsideration or a notice of appeal
(NOA) to the Veterans Court partially contingent upon whether VA forwards the
document to the court and the court timely receives it. Yet court decisions have
found equitable tolling may apply in situations where VA timely received a misfiled
NOA, but the Veterans Court did not timely receive it. The bill would give VA the
authority to potentially take away a course of action from an appellant. The legislation would essentially provide VA with the authority to determine whether a document is an NOA based in part on whether VA can timely forward the document to
the Veterans Court. This would prevent an appellant who timely misfiled an NOA
with VA from having an opportunity to have the court determine whether equitable
tolling applies and whether the court will accept the misfiled submission as timely.
Further, an appellant may have been seeking to file a motion for reconsideration
with the Board. However, if VA determines that a document is an NOA instead of
a motion for reconsideration, VA may inadvertently prevent an appellant from having the Board consider his or her motion for reconsideration. Consequently, the proposed legislation would pose a number of legal and practical difficulties.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I would be pleased to respond to questions you or the other
Members may have.
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ENCLOSURE:
VA VIEWS
S. 514
S. 514 would amend subchapter II of chapter 33, title 38, United States Code, to
provide additional educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program (Post-9/11 GI Bill) to Veterans pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering, math, or an area that leads to employment in a high-demand
occupation. The additional payment would be in an amount determined by the Secretary and would be in addition to other amounts payable under chapter 33. VA provided views for this bill at the June 12, 2013, hearing.
The amount of increase in additional benefits is not specified in this legislation;
therefore, we are unable to provide an estimate for the additional benefit costs that
this legislation would incur. There are no full time equivalent (FTE) or general operating expense (GOE) costs associated with enactment of this bill.
S. 735
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913VAltr.eps
S. 735, the Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013, would amend title 38,
United States Code, to improve benefits and assistance provided to surviving
spouses of Veterans under laws administered by the Secretary of VA and for other
purposes.
Section 2 of this bill would amend section 1311 of title 38, United States Code,
by extending, from 2 to 5 years, the period for increased dependency and indemnity
compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses with children. VA supports the extended
period of eligibility, subject to Congress identifying the appropriate offsets. The bill
47
extends the with-children increase period by 3 additional years. Benefits costs associated with section 2 are estimated to be $5.6 million during the first year, $72.1
million for 5 years, and $199.3 million over 10 years.
Section 3 of S. 735 would extend eligibility for DIC, heath care, and home loan
guaranty benefits to surviving spouses who remarry after age 55. Currently, such
benefits may be granted to surviving spouses who remarry after age 57. VA supports this provision because it would make consistent VAs provision of benefits and
health care to surviving spouses. Under section 103(d)(2)(b) of title 38, United
States Code, remarriage after age 55 is not a bar to health care benefits. On December 16, 2003, Congress enacted the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, which for the first
time gave certain surviving spouses the right to retain VA benefits after remarriage.
Prior law required VA to terminate those benefits upon remarriage regardless of the
age of the surviving spouse.
There will be no additional costs for health care as, under section 103(d)(2)(b) of
title 38, United States Code, remarriage after age 55 is not a bar to health care benefits. Regarding costs associated with home loans, the provision would produce negligible estimated subsidy costs over 10 years because of a very small change expected in loan volume. We do not currently have an estimate of the costs associated
with additional DIC eligibility.
Section 4 of S. 735 would provide benefits to children of certain Thailand service
Veterans born with spina bifida. The Spina Bifida Health Benefits Program was
originally enacted for the birth of children with spina bifida to Vietnam Veterans
based on evidence of an increased incidence of spina bifida among Veterans exposed
to herbicides. The program was later expanded to include the children with spina
bifida of certain Veterans whom the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) determined had been exposed to herbicides in Korea. The proposed bill would incorporate
language from Subchapter I of Chapter 18 regarding spina bifida benefits for children of Vietnam Veterans and from Subchapter II, section 1821, regarding spina
bifida benefits for children of Veterans with covered service in Korea. The covered
service in this proposed bill is defined as active military, naval, or air service in
Thailand, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975,
in which an individual is determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of Defense, to have been exposed to a herbicide agent during such service
in Thailand. The proposed bill goes on to define herbicide agent as a chemical
in a herbicide used in support of United States and allied military operations in
Thailand, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975.
VA supports section 4, pending congressional funding, which would provide benefits for this population similar to the benefits offered to those eligible under the
Spina Bifida Health Care Benefits Program. However, there are several aspects that
may limit its application. The benefit it seeks to provide to children of Veterans
with Thailand service is based on the premise that the parent Veteran was exposed
to the herbicide Agent Orange with its carcinogenic element dioxin, and that this
contributed to the spina bifida. Veterans with service in Vietnam from January 9,
1962, to May 7, 1975, are presumed exposed to this herbicide based on section 1116
of title 38, United States Code. Veterans with service in certain units located on the
Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) from April 1, 1968, to August 31, 1971, are also
given the presumption of exposure under section 3.307(a)(6)(iv) of title 38, Code of
Federal Regulations. This presumption is the basis for the childs spina bifida benefits. However, there is no presumption of Agent Orange exposure for service in Thailand, and DOD has stated that only commercial herbicides were used within the interiors of military installations in Thailand. As a result, there is some question as
to how the proposed bills covered service in Thailand would be applied.
Although there is no applicable presumption of herbicide exposure for purposes
of identifying covered service in Thailand, there is some evidence supporting the
possibility that tactical herbicides, such as Agent Orange, may have been used on
the fenced-in perimeters of Thailand air bases during the Vietnam War. Some evidence for this is found in the 1973 DOD document CHECO Report: Base Defense
in Thailand, which emphasizes the security role of herbicides within the fenced-in
perimeters, but does not specifically identify the herbicide type. As a result, VA has
given the benefit of the doubt to those Veterans who walked the perimeters as dog
handlers or security guards and has acknowledged their exposure on a direct factsfound occupational basis. This is not the same as a legal presumption of exposure.
These Veterans would be the only ones currently recognized as having the covered
service that is referred to in the proposed legislation. General service in Thailand
is not considered by VA to be the covered service involved with this legislation.
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VA estimates that medical-care costs associated with this section would be $3.14
million in fiscal year (FY) 2014; $17.81 million over 5 years; and $56.73 million over
10 years. Benefits costs associated with this section of the bill are estimated to be
$1.8 million during the first year, $9.4 million for 5 years, and $19.8 million over
10 years.
Section 5 of S. 735 would require VA, not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment, to conduct a pilot program to assess the feasibility of providing grief
counseling services in a group retreat setting to surviving spouses of Veterans who
die while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces. The pilot program would be
carried out by the Readjustment Counseling Service (RCS). Participation would be
at the election of the surviving spouse. The pilot program would be carried out at
not fewer than six locations, including three locations where surviving spouses with
dependent children are encouraged to bring their children, and three locations
where surviving spouses with dependent children are not encouraged to bring their
children. Services provided under the pilot would include information and counseling on coping with grief, information about benefits and services available to surviving spouses under laws administered by VA, and other information considered
appropriate to assist a surviving spouse with adjusting to the death of a spouse.
VA supports the concept of providing readjustment counseling in retreat settings.
Initial results from similar retreat-based pilot programs operated by RCS found participants were able to reduce symptoms and maintain a higher quality of life after
the retreat. The retreats proposed in section 5 have the potential for similar results;
however, a permissive or discretionary authority to operate such a program would
be preferable to a mandatory pilot authority. Such authority would permit VA to
determine eligible cohort participation based on criteria such as local demand and
available funding.
We estimate that the cost of the pilot would be approximately $512,730.
S. 778
S. 778 would grant VA the authority to issue a card, known as a Veterans ID

Card, to a Veteran that identifies the individual as a Veteran and includes a photo
and the name of the Veteran. The issuance of the card would not be premised on
receipt of any VA benefits nor enrollment in the system of annual patient enrollment for VA health care established under section 1705(a) of title 38, United States
Code. The card could be used by Veterans to identify themselves as Veterans in
order to secure pharmaceuticals and consumer products offered by retailers to Veterans at reduced prices.
VA understands and appreciates the purpose of this bill, to provide Veterans a
practical way to show their status as Veterans to avail themselves of the many special programs or advantages civic-minded businesses and organizations confer upon
Veterans. However, VA does not support this bill. The same benefit to Veterans can
best be achieved by VA and DOD working with the states, the District of Columbia,
and United States territories to encourage programs for them to issue such identification cards. Those entities already have the experience and resources to issue reliable forms of identification.
VA is working with states on these efforts. For example, VA and the Commonwealth of Virginia launched a program to allow Veterans to obtain a Virginia Veterans ID Card from its Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The program will
help thousands of Virginia Veterans identify themselves as Veterans and obtain retail and restaurant discounts around the state. On May 30, 2012, the program was
launched in Richmond, and a DMV 2 Go mobile office was present to process Veterans applications for the cards.
Virginia Veterans may apply for the cards in person at any Virginia DMV customer service center, at a mobile office, or online. Each applicant presents an unexpired Virginia drivers license or DMV-issued ID card, a Veterans ID card application, his or her DOD Form DD214, DD256, or WD AGO document, and $10. The
card, which does not expire, is mailed to the Veteran and should arrive within a
week. In the meantime, the temporary Veterans ID card received at the time of the
in-person application can be used as proof of Veteran status.
Other jurisdictions can use this model to establish similar programs without creating a new program within VA that may not be cost-efficient. It is not known
whether enough Veterans would request the card to make necessary initial investments in information technology and training worthwhile.
In addition, a VA-issued card could create confusion about eligibility. Although
the card would not by itself establish eligibility, there could nonetheless be misunderstandings by Veterans that a Government benefit is conferred by the card. As
the Committee knows, entitlement to some VA benefits depends on criteria other
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than Veteran status, such as service connection or level of income. Confusion may
also occur because the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) issues identification
cards to Veterans who are eligible for VA health care. Having two VA-issued cards
would pose the potential for confusion.
It is difficult to predict how many Veterans would apply for such a card. Therefore, VA cannot provide a reliable cost estimate for S. 778.
S. 819
S. 819, the Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act of 2013, would provide
the Department with significant new tools to maximize and reward a Veterans
therapeutic recovery from certain service-related mental health conditions, and, to
the extent possible, reduce the Veterans level of permanent disability from any of
the covered conditions. The goal of the legislation is to give the Veteran the best
opportunity to reintegrate successfully and productively into the civilian community.
Specifically, S. 819 would require the Secretary to carry out a mental health and
rehabilitation program for certain Veterans who have been discharged or released
from service in the active military, naval, or air service under conditions other than
dishonorable for a period of not more than 2 years, and who have been enrolled for
care in the VA health care system since before the date of enactment of this bill.
The program would be available to a Veteran who has been diagnosed by a VA physician with any of the following conditions: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);
depression; or anxiety disorder that is service related, as defined by the bill. The
bill would also cover a diagnosis of a substance use disorder related to service-related PTSD, depression, or anxiety. For purposes of this program, a covered condition would be considered to be service related if: (1) VA has previously adjudicated
the disability to be service-connected; or (2) the VA physician making the diagnosis
finds the condition plausibly related to the Veterans active service. S. 819 would
also require the Secretary to promulgate regulations identifying the standards to be
used by VA physicians when determining whether a condition is plausibly related
to the Veterans active military, naval, or air service.
The bill sets forth conditions of participation for the Veterans taking part in the
program. If a Veteran has not filed a VA claim for disability for the covered condition, the Veteran would have to agree not to submit a VA claim for disability compensation for the covered condition for 1 year (beginning on the date the Veteran
starts the program) or until the date on which the Veteran completes his or her
treatment plan, whichever date is earlier.
If the Veteran has filed a disability claim but it has not yet been adjudicated by
the Department, the Veteran could elect either to suspend adjudication of the claim
until he or she completes treatment or to continue with the claims adjudication
process. As discussed below, the stipend amounts payable to the Veteran under the
program will depend on which election the Veteran makes.
If the Veteran has a covered condition that has been adjudicated to be serviceconnected, then the individual would have to agree not to submit a claim for an increase in VA disability compensation for 1 year (beginning on the date the Veteran
starts the program) or until the date the Veteran completes treatment, whichever
is earlier.
S. 819 would establish a financial incentive in the form of wellness stipends to
encourage participating Veterans to obtain VA care and rehabilitation before pursuing, or seeking additional, disability compensation for a covered condition. The
amount of the stipend would depend on the status of the Veterans disability claim.
If the Veteran has not filed a VA disability claim, VA would pay the Veteran $2,000
upon commencement of the treatment plan, plus $1,500 every 90 days thereafter
upon certification by the VA clinician that the Veteran is in substantial compliance
with the plan. This recurring stipend would be capped at $6,000. The Veteran would
receive an additional $3,000 at the conclusion of treatment or 1 year after the Veteran begins treatment, whichever is earlier.
If the Veteran has filed a disability claim that has not yet been adjudicated, the
participating Veteran who elects to suspend adjudication of the claim until he or she
completes treatment would receive wellness stipends in the same amounts payable
to Veterans who have not yet filed a disability claim. If the participating Veteran
elects instead to continue with the claims adjudication process, the Veteran would
receive wellness stipends in the same amounts payable to Veterans whose covered
disabilities have been adjudicated and found to be service-connected: $667 payable
upon the Veterans commencement of treatment and $500 payable every 90 days
thereafter upon certification by the Veterans clinician that the individual is in substantial compliance with the plan. Recurring payments would be capped at $2,000,
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and the Veteran would receive $1,000 when treatment is completed or 1 year after
beginning treatment, whichever is earlier.
If the Secretary determines that a Veteran participating in the program has failed
to comply substantially with the treatment plan or any other agreed-upon conditions
of the program, the bill would require VA to cease payment of future wellness stipends to the Veteran.
Finally, S. 819 would limit a Veterans participation in this program to one time,
unless the Secretary determines that additional participation in the program would
assist in the remediation of the Veterans covered condition.
VA does not support S. 819. Although VA philosophically appreciates the purpose
of the bill and the legislators intent, we have concerns with its premises and are
unable to support it.
S. 819 assumes that early treatment intervention by VA health care professionals
for a covered condition would be effective in either reducing or stabilizing the Veterans level of permanent disability from the condition, thereby reducing the amount
of VA disability benefits ultimately awarded for the condition. No data exist to support or refute that assumption.
With the exception of substance use disorders, we are likewise unaware of any
data to support or refute the bills underlying assumption that paying a Veteran a
wellness stipend will ensure the patients compliance with his or her treatment
program. Although there is a growing trend among health insurance carriers or employers to provide short-term financial incentives for their enrollees or employees to
participate in preventive health care programs (e.g., reducing premiums for an enrollee who participates in a fitness program, loses weight, or quits smoking), we are
unaware of any data establishing that these and similar financial incentives
produce long-term cost savings to the carrier or employer. It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to quantify savings or offsets because there is no way to
know whether a particular patients health status would have worsened without
VAs intervention, and whether the intervention directly resulted in a certain or predictable total amount in health care expenditure savings. We would experience the
same difficulties trying to identify what would have been the level of disability and
costs of care for a particular Veteran had he or she not participated in the early
clinical intervention program.
The wellness stipends, themselves, raise several complex issues. None of VAs
current benefits systems is equipped to administer such a novel benefit, and no current account appears to be an appropriate funding source from which to pay the
benefit. Second, authorization of wellness benefits would be determined based solely
on adherence to the treatment/wellness program. This would place the clinician in
the position of determining whether the patient will continue to receive these
wellness benefits and would pose a significant conflict of interest which would likely
compromise the healing relationship between the patient and clinical provider.
There would be significant indirect costs as well. VHA currently lacks the information technology infrastructure, expertise, and staff to administer monetary benefits with the potential level of complexity and scale proposed in this legislation. The
challenge posed in connection with this bill would be nearly insurmountable, which
calls for a very complex, nationwide patient tracking and monitoring system that
also has the capacity to administer payments at different points in time for Veterans participating in the program. The fact that the duration of each Veterans
treatment plan would be highly individualized would only complicate the requirements of such a system design, as would the fact that the bill would permit some
Veterans to receive treatment (and payment) extensions.
The cost of administering S. 819 would be potentially higher than the benefit received by the Veteran. The maximum VA could pay any Veteran under the bill
would be $11,000; however, it is reasonable to assume that the costs associated with
designing, operating, and administering such a complex benefit program would far
surpass the actual amounts we would pay out to the Veterans (individually or collectively).
S. 819 would also place practitioners in the difficult position of determining if
their patients will receive wellness stipends available under the program. It is
quite atypical for a VA physicians clinical determination regarding treatment to
have direct financial implications or consequences for his or her patients. VA physicians and practitioners seek to help their Veteran patients attain maximum functioning as quickly as clinically possible. S. 819 would create potential conflict for our
health care practitioners. They should focus solely on issues of health care and not
feel pressure to grant requests for extensions of treatment in order to maximize the
amount of money patients receive under the program.
Additionally, it would be difficult to define substantial compliance, for purposes
of S. 819, in a way that is measurable and objective as well as not easily amenable
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to fraud or abuse. For instance, substantial compliance could be defined in part by
a Veteran stating that he or she took prescribed medications as ordered by the physician and VA confirming the Veteran obtained refills in a timely manner. But that
information does not actually verify that the patient in fact ingested the medication
or did so as prescribed.
There would unavoidably be some patients whose motivation for participating in
this program is strictly financial, and they would invariably find ways to circumvent
whatever criteria we established in order to receive their stipends. Although these
payments would not be sizable, they would be sufficient to entice some patients who
would not otherwise access VAs health care system to participate in the program.
We fear these patients would cease their treatment and stop accessing needed VA
services once their treatment and payments end.
If the use of wellness stipends were able to produce reliable, positive results in
terms of patients compliance or outcomes, there may then be a demand to extend
this reward system to other VA treatment programs. We note this only to point out
that the cost implications in the out-years could be very difficult to estimate accurately.
Finally, it is also troubling that S. 819 would require VA to treat specific diseases
and not the Veteran as a whole. This approach would place VA practitioners in the
difficult and untenable position of being able to identify conditions they cannot treat
under the proposed program. This would create a particularly serious ethical dilemma for the practitioner who knows that his or her Veteran patient has no other
access to needed health care services. In our view, authority to treat specific diseases-and not the person-would be counter to the principles of patient-centered and
holistic medicine.
We do not currently have a cost estimate for S. 819.
S. 863
Section 2 of S. 863, the Veterans Back to School Act of 2013, would amend section 3031 of title 38, United States Code, to repeal the time limitations on the use
of educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty (MGIB-AD)
program. Currently, pursuant to section 3031, the period for which an individual is
entitled to education assistance under the MGIB-AD program expires, generally, 10
years after the individuals last discharge or release from active duty.
Section 2 of S. 863 would add a new subsection to section 3031 to provide that,
notwithstanding other delimiting-date provisions in that section, the period for a
covered individual to use MGIB-AD education benefits would expire 10 years after
the date on which the individual begins using the benefit. A covered individual
would be defined to be any individual whose basic pay was reduced by $100 for 12
months under paragraph (1) of section 3011, or an amount equal to $1,200 not later
than 1 year after completion of 2 years of active duty service. This legislation would
not apply to the period for using entitlement transferred under section 3020 of title
38.
The amendment made by section 2 would be made effective as if the legislation
had been enacted immediately after the enactment of the Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 1984.
VA is unable to support section 2 of S. 863. Currently, a Veteran must use MGIBAD benefits during the 10-year period beginning on the date of his or her release
from active duty. Under the proposed legislation, an individual could wait more
than
10 years before he or she begins use of the benefit. This would require VA to administer the MGIB-AD program for an unknown number of individuals for an unlimited period of time. The MGIB-AD-eligible population is decreasing, as the 10year period of eligibility for Veterans with service ending prior to 2001 has passed,
and the majority of individuals with service after that date are electing to use benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill program, which provides a 15-year eligibility period.
VA also has concerns with the effective date of the legislation. We interpret the
effective date in paragraph (c) of section 2 to mean all individuals who have not received MGIB-AD education benefits would now be eligible and those that previously
received benefits would have their time limitation recalculated. This would require
VA to retroactively make adjustments to individual periods of eligibility, creating a
significant workload that would impact our timeliness in processing all education
claims.
VA estimates that the benefit cost associated with enactment of section 2 of the
bill would be insignificant. While section 2 would effectively extend the delimiting
date of MGIB-AD, the Secretary currently has authority under Title 38 Section 3031
to extend the delimiting date in certain circumstances. Additionally, MGIB-AD
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usage data suggests that the majority of trainees begin receiving benefits within
three years of separation and would not require more than the current ten year delimiting date to use their entitlement. Finally, because MGIB-AD is a decreasing
program due to the implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, we anticipate that
MGIB-AD participation will decrease below 10,000 within ten years, further minimizing any impact of extending the delimiting date.
Section 3 of S. 863 would amend chapter 36 of title 38, United States Code, to
require VA, subject to the availability of appropriations, to provide funding for offices of veterans affairs at institutions of higher learning (IHL) at which there are
in attendance at least 50 students receiving educational assistance administered by
VA.
This legislation would require that an IHL or consortium of IHLs submit an application to VA to determine eligibility for this program. Such application would be required to identify policies, assurances, and procedures to ensure that the funds received by the institution would be used solely to enhance the institutions Veterans
education outreach program. During each academic year an institution receives payments, the IHL would be required to fund an amount equal to at least the amount
of the award paid by VA. The funding for the additional expenditure could not come
from other Federal sources, and the applicant would have to submit any reports requested by VA. VA would determine what information must be included in the application and when the application should be submitted. In addition, the application
must state that the applicant will maintain an office of veterans affairs and use
that office for Veterans certification, outreach, recruitment, and special education
programs. This would include referral to educational, vocational, and personal counseling for Veterans, as well as providing information for other services provided to
Veterans by VA, such as readjustment counseling; job counseling, training, and
placement services; and employment and training of Veterans.
If VA determines that an institution eligible for funding is unable to carry out
by itself any or all activities proposed in this legislation, the institution might carry
out the program activities through a consortium agreement with one or more other
IHLs in the same community. However, VA could not approve an application unless
it is determined that the applicant would implement the necessary requirements
within the first academic year in which a payment would be received.
An eligible institution would receive $100 for each person that received VA educational assistance, with a maximum amount of $150,000 to any IHL during the fiscal year. Six million dollars would be authorized to be appropriated for FY 2012 and
each fiscal year thereafter. If the amount appropriated for any fiscal year would not
be sufficient to pay all IHLs, the payments would be reduced. However, if any
amounts become available in any fiscal year after such reductions, the reduced payments would be increased at the same level they were reduced.
From the amounts made available for any fiscal year, VA would also be required
to set aside 1 percent or $20,000, whichever is less, for the purpose of collecting information about exemplary programs and disseminating that information to other
institutions with similar programs on their campuses. Such collection and dissemination would be completed each year. VA could not retain more than 2 percent of
the funds available for administering this program.
VA supports the intent of section 3; however, we have significant concerns about
the potential additional administrative burden that could result. In calendar year
2012, there were more than 3,100 schools with 50 or more recipients of VA education benefits. As the Post-9/11 GI Bill continues to grow, VA can expect the number of schools with 50 or more recipients to increase. During FY 2012, there were
646,302 students who received Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, which is an increase of
16.4 percent over FY 2011. VA would need to provide staffing to administer and
process the number of applications received for this program. Additionally, VA
would need to establish a method of reporting and tracking the success of these programs.
We also have concerns about the broad scope of this legislation, and how VA
would effectively administer the provisions. While the bill would require an institution to use funds solely to carry out Veterans education outreach programs, VA does
not have a mechanism to ensure that all funds would be used accordingly. Additionally, the funding limitations by fiscal year present challenges. The risk of funding
uncertainty would jeopardize effective planning.
We note that the 2014 Presidents Budget includes funding to expand the Departments VetSuccess on Campus initiative to a total of 94 campuses. VA is beginning
a partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide
additional support for VetSuccess on Campus counselors through AmeriCorps members. Furthermore, as of May 29, 2013, 6,282 campuses have voluntarily agreed to
comply with the Principles of Excellence outlined in Executive Order 13607, which
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requires the schools designate a point of contact to assist Veteran and Servicemember students and their families with academic and financial advising.
This legislation authorizes appropriation of $6 million to carry out section 3 for
FY 2012 and each fiscal year thereafter. It is assumed that such funding would be
made available through the GOE account, but we request that specific language be
added to the legislation to make this clear. No benefits cost would be associated
with enactment of this section. Although the bill would authorize $6 million to carry
out this section, VA estimates GOE costs for the first year of $8 million based on
17 FTE to administer the Veterans education outreach program established under
section 3 (including salary, benefits, rent, supplies, equipment, payments made to
institutions of higher learning, and an outreach study). The estimated 5-year cost
would be $40 million, and the 10-year cost would be $81.2 million. In addition, VA
estimates that information technology (IT) costs to support the additional staff for
the first year would be $31,000 (this includes the IT equipment for FTE, installation, maintenance, and IT support). The estimated 5-year IT cost would be $175,000,
and the 10-year cost would be $409,000.
S. 868
S. 868, the Filipino Veterans Promise Act, would require the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of VA, to establish a process to determine
whether individuals claiming certain service in the Philippines during World War
II are eligible for certain benefits despite not being on the so-called Missouri List.
This bill affects programs and laws administered by DOD. Respectfully, we defer to
that Departments views on this bill.
S. 889
S. 889, the Servicemembers Choice in Transition Act of 2013, would amend section 1144 of title 10, United States Code, to improve the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). The current law does not stipulate any requirements for TAP beyond
pre-separation counseling and the Department of Labor (DOL) Employment Workshop.
S. 889 would mandate the following additions to TAP providing: (1) information
on disability-related employment and education protection; (2) an overview of available education benefits; and (3) testing to determine academic readiness for postsecondary education. The deadline for implementation of these provisions would be
April 1, 2015. The bill would also require a feasibility study by VA on providing the
instruction of pre-separation counseling (described in subsection (b) of section 1142
of title 10, United States Code) at overseas locations, no later than 270 days after
the date of the enactment.
VA appreciates the strong interest and support from the Committee to ensure
that separating Servicemembers are given full and effective engagement on their
employment and training opportunities, as well as other VA benefits they have
earned. However, VA does not support this legislation. The passage of the Veterans
Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act (VOW Act) of 2011 and the introduction of the Presidents Veterans Employment Initiative (VEI) satisfy the intent
underlying S. 889. VA believes those efforts should be afforded an opportunity to be
fully implemented and assessed before any further legislation concerning TAP is enacted. Allowing agencies to proceed under current plans will provide greater flexibility in implementing improvements and making adjustments based on accurate
data analysis during assessment. VA will be pleased to brief the Committee on the
improvements and enhancements that are currently being implemented as part of
the Administrations VEI.
VA and Federal agency partners including DOD, DOL, Department of Education,
Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Small Business Administration
(SBA), are currently working to develop a plan for the implementation of an enhanced TAP curriculum, known as Transition GPS (Goals, Plans, Success), which
was developed under the Administrations VEI.
Current components of the Transition GPS curriculum include mandatory pre-separation counseling, service-delivered modules, enhanced VA benefits briefings, a
DOL Employment Workshop, and Servicemember-selected tracks focused on technical training, higher education, and entrepreneurship opportunities. With the implementation of the Capstone event by the end of FY 2013, the Transition GPS curriculum will take approximately 7 to 8 days to complete.
VA has primary responsibility in the development and delivery of the VA benefits
briefings and the Career Technical Training Track, and additional responsibilities
to support partner agencies in the development of curriculum of the higher education track, the entrepreneurship track, and the Capstone event. The Capstone
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event is intended to serve as a standardized end-of-career experience to validate,
verify, and bolster transition training and other services to prepare for civilian career readiness, including those delivered throughout the entire span of a Servicemembers career, from accession to post-military civilian life.
The VA Benefits I and II Briefings are part of the current Transition GPS Curriculum. During the VA Benefits I Briefing, information is provided on VA education
benefits, as well as identifying the forms and documentation necessary to access
those education benefits. The VA Benefits I Briefing also provides information on
all other benefits and services offered by VA. The Benefits II Briefing provides an
in-depth overview of VAs disability compensation process, VA health care, and navigation of the eBenefits portal, a one-stop, self-service tool providing access to all
benefits information.
Testing to determine academic readiness for post-secondary education for any
member who plans to use educational assistance under title 38 does not play a role
in how VA determines eligibility and disburses VA education benefits. VA does not
agree that this type of testing should be a part of Transition GPS, since Servicemembers who are interested in pursuing post-secondary education already go
through an application process in order to determine readiness and acceptance to
accredited schools, universities, or colleges. The final determination for ones acceptance to post-secondary education is the responsibility of the academic institutions.
VA believes the intent of this amendment is already being met under the revised
Transition GPS. As part of the new process, Servicemembers receive pre-separation
counseling by a representative within their respective Service, where they may receive additional guidance on appropriate next steps to include planning for a postsecondary education.
This legislation would also mandate providing information on disability-related
employment and education protections. As VA does not have oversight on employment and education protections, we defer to our agency partners (e.g., DOL and Department of Education) regarding the extent to which they address these topic areas
during Transition GPS.
Because pre-separation counseling is the responsibility of DOD, the feasibility
study on the implementation of subsection (b) of section 1142 of title 10, United
States Code, would be a new requirement for VA and would necessitate agreements
and information sharing between VA and DOD to finalize within 270 days after enactment.
We note that the Transition GPS curriculum is new and still being evaluated for
effectiveness and efficiency. VA is in the process of fine tuning delivery and content
to best meet Servicemembers needs, and additional legislation at this stage may
hinder those efforts. For these reasons, VA does not support the feasibility study.
VA estimates that, if S. 889 were enacted, costs for the first year would be $8.2
million (including salary, benefits, travel, rent, supplies, training, equipment, and
other services [including curriculum development]), $40.6 million over 5 years, and
$86.5 million over 10 years. VA estimates that IT costs for the first year would be
$0.3 million (including the IT equipment for FTE, installation, maintenance, and IT
support) $0.9 million over 5 years, and $2.0 million over 10 years.
S. 894
S. 894 would extend, through June 30, 2016, the Secretarys authority to pay allowances for certain qualifying work-study activities performed by certain individuals pursuing programs of education. This bill would also amend section 3485(a)(4)
of title 38, United States Code, to add a new subparagraph to add to the list of
qualifying work-study activities certain activities performed at the offices of Members of Congress. Finally, this bill would require VA to submit annual reports to
Congress regarding the work-study allowances paid under section 3485(a). VA provided views for this bill at the June 12, 2013, hearing.
VA estimates that, if enacted, benefit costs for S. 894 would be $572,000 during
FY 2013 and $7.4 million for the 3-year period beginning on June 30, 2013, and ending on June 30, 2016. There are no additional FTE or GOE cost requirements associated with this legislation.
S. 922
Section 3 of S. 922, the Veterans Equipped for Success Act of 2013, would require VA, in collaboration with DOL, to create a 3-year pilot program in four locations to assess the feasibility and advisability of offering career transition services
to eligible Veterans. VA provided views for this bill at the June 12, 2013, hearing.
VA estimates that, if S. 922 were enacted, costs for the first year would be $1.9
billion (including salary, benefits, travel rent, other services, supplies, and equip-
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ment), and $6.7 billion over 4 years. VA IT costs are estimated to be $0.1 million
in the first year and $0.2 million over 4 years. IT costs include IT equipment, FTE,
installation, maintenance, systems, and IT support.
S. 927
S. 927, the Veterans Outreach Act of 2013, would require VA to carry out a
demonstration project to assess the feasibility and advisability of using state and
local government agencies and nonprofit organizations to increase outreach to Veterans regarding VA benefits and services. VA would require additional resources,
such as manpower, funds, and space, to administer the mandated grant program,
comply with the reporting requirements, and support the advisory committee called
for in section 5 of the bill. In addition, VA has several recommendations and concerns regarding particular bill language. Because of the central role of outreach in
ensuring that Veterans know of the benefits they have earned and the role of outreach throughout the myriad missions of VHA, VBA, and the National Cemetery
Administration, we would benefit from meeting with the Committee to discuss ongoing outreach efforts and the ideas represented in this bill.
Section 2 of S. 927 would require VA to conduct a demonstration project to increase coordination of outreach efforts between VA and Federal, state, and local
agencies and nonprofit organizations. In the absence of a requirement for specific
appropriations dedicated to the implementation of the bill, VA requests that, in section 2(a), shall be replaced with may.
Section 2(a)(2) lists nonprofit providers of health care and benefits services for
veterans as an entity with which VA would coordinate outreach activities. VA
would like for the bill to have broad reach but would like to discuss with the Committee the different types of entities this language could cover.
Section 2(c)(3) would require the Secretary to consider where the projects will be
carried out and a number of other factors. VA recommends the considerations of
section 2(c)(3) be deleted and that VA be directed to include appropriate project criteria, such as location and other factors, in VA implementing regulations. VA is concerned that, under section 2(c)(5), which would limit awards to a single state entity
to 20 percent of all grant amounts awarded in a fiscal year, limitations would only
be established for state entities while local and nonprofit entities would not be subject such limitations. VA recommends including all eligible grantees in this paragraph. Similarly, under section 2(d), the 50 percent matching funds requirement
would only apply to states while county, municipal, and nonprofit entities would not
have this burdensome requirement. VA recommends including all eligible grantees
in this subsection as well. Essentially, there should be one standard: matching funds
should be required for all entities or no such requirement should exist. VA already
submits a consolidated biennial report on outreach activities, and therefore recommends that, rather than requiring the annual report as prescribed by section
2(e), the biennial report already submitted address the grants called for in this proposed legislation.
Section 3 would provide for cooperative agreements between the Secretary and
states on outreach activities. VA already has an existing Memorandum of Agreement through the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs that
encompasses the intent of this legislation. Therefore, VA recommends removing this
section.
Section 4 would provide for specific budget reporting requirements for VAs outreach activities. VA administrations currently plan and track outreach budgets
without a Congressionally-mandated requirement in order to report to VAs Office
of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA). However, the language of section
4 would require additional collection and coordination that could represent additional expenditures for VA. Additional manpower would be required to plan, coordinate, track, and report all outreach budget activities throughout VA. VA would be
glad to discuss the requirements of this section with the Committee.
Section 5 would establish an advisory committee on outreach activities in VA. Additional resources would be required to manage, plan, coordinate, support, and report on an outreach advisory committees activities. In addition, VA already has several committees, such as the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans, the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans, and the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf
War Veterans Illnesses, which look at outreach as a component of their charters.
Should this additional advisory committee be established, VA believes that the quarterly consultation and reporting requirements contemplated by section 5(d) and (e)
are excessive. Most VA committees already meet two to three times annually. VA
recommends instead a biannual meeting requirement.
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Section 6 would require each VA medical center to establish an advisory board
on outreach activities. VA does not support this section of S. 927 as it would require
152 additional advisory boards, each one being a potential distracter to mission
workload.
VA is unable to estimate the costs of this bill, as they would depend upon the
scope of the grant program which, in turn, would depend upon amounts appropriated for such grants.
S. 928
Section 101 of S. 928, the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013, would
establish a working group to improve the employee work credit and work management systems of VBA. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, VA would establish a working group to assess and develop recommendations for the improvement of the employee work credit and work management systems of VBA. The work group would be comprised of VA adjudicators, labor representatives, and individuals from Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs). The
working group would develop a data-based methodology to be used in revising the
employee work credit system and a schedule by which revisions to such system
would be made, and would assess and develop recommendations for improvement
of the resource allocation model. In carrying out its duties, the working group would
review the findings and conclusions of the Secretary regarding previous studies of
the employee work credit and work management systems of VBA.
Within 180 days following establishment of the working group, VA would submit
a progress report to Congress. Within 1 year following the establishment of the
working group, VA would submit a report to Congress detailing the methodology
and schedule developed by the working group.
VA does not support section 101. VA is fully aware of the need to improve its
work credit and work management systems, but does not believe it necessary to legislate a formal working group to carry out an improvement plan. VA benefited from
the Center for Naval Analyses report, mandated by section 226, Public Law 110
389, which revealed needed improvements of VAs work credit and management system. It is vital that VA continue to improve its evolving claims processing system,
including the enhancement of the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS)
to incorporate advanced workload management functionalities. VBAs planned future state includes development of VBMS workload management capabilities that
are entirely electronic. The workload management capabilities of VBMS are being
developed in two steps. Currently, a working group is building the design requirements that will provide managers with the tools and reporting capabilities to manage their workload most effectively at the regional office level. Second, a national
work queue will be developed, to include the capability of routing claims automatically through a pre-determined model, which will route claims based on VBAs priorities and the skill levels of our employees, essentially matching claims processors
with the next best claim to work based on their skill levels and areas of expertise,
as well as national workload management policies.
As VBA moves toward the full integration of the entire claims process in VBMS,
the capability to capture transactional data will allow VA to move from a pointsbased work credit system dependent on employee-user input to a system that can
automatically capture employees transactions, activities, claims completions, and
timeliness, enabling VBA to measure performance against standards that truly reflect the desired outcome of timely and accurate completion of claims. VBA recognizes the importance of assessing the impact of our transformational initiatives on
employees job requirements and appropriately adjusting the work credit system.
VBA established a new team in April 2013 to work in concert with VBMS programmers to ensure the requirements and functionality for employee work-credit is incorporated into VBMS and that a system is established that measures and manages
the work production of employees in accordance with actions required by the updated claims process.
No mandatory or discretionary costs are associated with this section of the bill.
Section 102 of the bill would establish a task force on retention and training of
claims processors and adjudicators who are employed by VA and other Federal
agencies and departments. The task force would be comprised of the VA Secretary,
Director of OPM, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, a representative from a VSO, and other individuals from institutions as the Secretary considers
appropriate. The duties of the task force would include:
(1) Identifying key skills required by claims processors and adjudicators to perform the duties of claims processors and adjudicators in the various claims processing and adjudication positions throughout the Federal Government;
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(2) Identifying reasons for employee attrition from claims processing positions;
(3) No later than 1 year after establishment of the task force, developing a Government-wide strategic and operational plan for promoting employment of Veterans
in claims processing positions in the Federal Government;
(4) Coordinating with educational institutions to develop training and programs
of education for members of the Armed Forces to prepare such members for employment in claims processing and adjudication positions in the Federal Government;
(5) Identifying and coordinating offices of DOD and VA located throughout the
United States to provide information about, and promotion of, available claims processing positions to members of the Armed Forces transitioning to civilian life and
to Veterans with disabilities;
(6) Establishing performance measures to assess the plan developed under paragraph (3), assessing the implementation of such plan, and revising such plan as the
task force considers appropriate; and
(7) Establishing performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the task
force.
No later than 1 year after the date of the establishment of the task force, VA
would be required to submit to Congress a report on the plan developed by the task
force. Not later than 120 days after the termination of the task force, the Secretary
would be required to submit to Congress a report that assesses the implementation
of the plan developed by the task force.
VA does not support section 102 because VA already has systems and programs
in place to achieve the goals of the bill.
As VAs claims processes evolve, VA continues to identify critical skills needed by
adjudicators. Establishing a task force to address concerns at this stage would be
premature and counterproductive as VA implements, modifies, and enhances its
transformational initiatives and automated processing systems.
With regard to development of a Government-wide strategic and operational plan
for promoting employment of Veterans in claims processing positions in the Federal
Government, VA defers to OPM. However, 73 percent of VBAs hires this year have
been Veterans, and over 51 percent of VBAs current workforce is Veterans. Our attrition rate in disability claims processing positions was only 6 percent last year and
4 percent this fiscal year through June 30. VA currently utilizes tools in regional
offices that capture reasons for attrition when employees leave Federal service. This
information is used for succession planning and future hiring at the local level.
Over the last several years, VBA has developed competency models for claims
processing positions. The models describe the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for these jobs. VBA is in the process of linking the models to training.
The linked models will guide supervisors and employees as they develop training
plans to improve capabilities and/or remediate skill deficits. Training to develop
claims processing skill requires practical application using VA systems and processes that closely guard Veterans privacy. Effective training requires close evaluation achievable only by experts in claims processing, such as is conducted within
VA. Educational institutions are unlikely to provide meaningful development of
claims processor skills in Veterans.
The requirement to coordinate with educational institutions to develop training
and programs for members of the Armed Forces seems to contradict the rules in section 3680A of title 38, United States Code, which prohibits VA from approving programs of education where more than 85 percent of the students enrolled are in receipt of VA education benefits. Additionally, VA has concerns that the intent of providing specific training for employment for claims processing positions may actually
limit their employment opportunities as their training would be specific to a position
and not an industry or general career field.
VA has partnered with other Federal agencies to include DOD, Department of
Education, DOL, SBA, and OPM to develop a process through redesign of the TAP
in order to achieve the Presidents intent for a career-ready military. The redesign
provides training to enable transitioning Servicemembers to meet Career Readiness
Standards by translating military skills into Federal or private work opportunities
and better prepare Servicemembers in making a successful transition from military
to civilian life. VA is also responsible for delivering the Career Technical Training
Track (CTTT) which assists Servicemembers in developing a plan for a technical career after departing the military. The CTTT is a 16-hour course targeted toward
Servicemembers who may not choose a 4-year education option and who are seeking
rapid employment. As part of the redesign efforts of TAP, VA partners with DOD
and the Military Services in implementing a Capstone event to verify Servicemembers are career ready when departing the military. VA will provide support in
the development of a Military Life Cycle, which will incorporate Career Readiness
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Standards throughout an individuals military career versus during the last few
months prior to separation.
There are no mandatory or discretionary costs associated with this section.
Section 105 of S. 928 would mandate a pilot program to assess the feasibility and
advisability of entering into memorandums of understanding with local governments
and tribal organizations, to include at least two tribal organizations and 10 state
or local governments, for the purpose of improving the quality of claims submitted
and assisting Veterans who may be eligible for disability compensation in submitting claims.
While VA supports efforts to enhance service and benefits delivery to all categories of Veterans to include those of tribal organizations, the rationale and intent
behind this section of the bill is unclear. Therefore, VA does not support this section.
A pilot is unnecessary given that VA regularly conducts outreach to tribal organizations. Further, VA works closely with State and local governments, which employ
claims representatives to assist Veterans and their family members with filing
claims. VA regularly trains state and county personnel to ensure they are equipped
to assist Veterans in their communities.
Costs cannot be accurately estimated without understanding the scope of this provision. However, it is anticipated that additional discretionary funds would be needed to administer the program and to train the local governments and tribal organizations to accurately discuss VA benefit programs and assist with claims.
Section 106 of the bill would require VA, not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently than quarterly thereafter
through calendar year 2015, to submit to the Senate and House Committees on Veterans Affairs a report on the backlog of claims. The report would include the following elements:
(1) For each month through calendar year 2015, a projection of the following:
a. The number of claims completed;
b. The number of claims received;
c. The number of claims backlogged at the end of the month;
d. The number of claims pending at the end of the month; and
e. A description of the status of the implementation of initiatives carried out
by the Secretary to address the backlog.
(2) For each quarter through calendar year 2015, a projection of the average accuracy of disability determinations for compensation claims that require a disability
rating (or disability decision);
(3) For each month during the most recently completed quarter, the following:
a. The number of claims completed;
b. The number of claims received;
c. The number of claims backlogged at the end of the month;
d. The number of claims pending at the end of the month; and
e. A description of the status of the implementation of initiatives carried out
by the Secretary to address the backlog.
(4) For the most recently completed quarter, an assessment of the accuracy of disability determinations for compensation claims that require a disability rating (or
disability decision).
VA does not oppose section 106. Although various data elements from this bill are
already publicly available and/or provided to Congress on a regular basis, this section of the bill would formalize the transmission of specific performance data.
No mandatory or discretionary costs are associated with this section.
S. 930
S. 930 would add a new subsection to section 5314 of title 38, United States Code,
to delay the recovery of overpayments made by VA to individuals receiving Post-9/
11 GI Bill benefits until their last payment or payments under that program. This
new provision would not apply to individuals, who either completed the program of
education for which the debt was made or failed to attend class during the two academic semesters following the creation of the overpayment. VA would be authorized
to charge interest on the amount of indebtedness so that the delayed payment actuarially would be equal to the amount as if the debt were paid immediately. The new
subsection would apply to all debts created after the date of enactment and would
expire 9 years after the date of enactment.
VA does not support this bill. It would require VA to delay the collection of debts
by making deductions from the last payment or payments due to beneficiaries. VA
would not be able to project when Post-9/11 GI Bill beneficiaries would use their
benefits for the last time and the amount of the last payment. As a result, it would
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be difficult to determine when the debt should be recouped. Furthermore, withholding some or all the payments due to a Veteran for his/her final enrollment may
place undue financial burden on the Veteran during his/her last school term, potentially putting at risk the Veterans ability to complete his or her program and graduate. If an overpayment remains after the final payment has been withheld, that
overpayment would be the responsibility of the Veteran and would be subject to collection through the Treasury Offset Program if the Veteran is unable to pay out of
pocket.
This legislation would not apply to individuals who fail to attend classes in a
manner consistent with normal pursuit of a program of education during the next
two academic semesters after such overpayment. It is not clear what is meant by
normal pursuit as individuals may pursue training on a part-time basis and may
take short breaks in training periods. Furthermore, the proposed legislation directs
VA to charge the individual interest for debts that must be collected. It is not clear
whether interest would accrue from the date the overpayment is created or the date
VA begins collection due to non-pursuit of training. It is also unclear whether the
debt should be deferred if the individual resumes normal pursuit after the debt
collection process is initiated.
VA does not believe that the potential benefits gained by deferring some Veteran
debts would outweigh the increased burden Veterans may face to repay large
amounts out-of-pocket (as there will be little to no benefits remaining) or the burden
placed on VA to administer this provision. Moreover, this legislation conflicts with
the intended spirit of the Improper Payment Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010
and the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, both of which speak to proper
identification and recovery of Federal debts.
S. 930 would be effective on the date of enactment; however, its implementation
would require extensive changes to VAs collection process, including labor-intensive
systems changes. Thus, VA would need at least 18 months from the date of enactment to develop and/or amend systems to account for this change, train personnel
on the change, and inform beneficiaries.
VA estimates that enactment of S. 930 would result in benefits costs to VA of
$233 million during the first year, $1.3 billion over 5 years, and $2.4 billion over
10 years.
S. 932
S. 932, the Putting Veterans Funding First Act of 2013, would extend the authority for advance appropriations provided in the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act to all of VAs discretionary accounts, effective in 2016
and in each fiscal year thereafter. We appreciate how Congressional support for VA
advance appropriations for our medical care accounts has enabled a multi-year approach to medical budget planning and ensured continued medical services for Veterans. The advance medical care appropriation was designed to ensure continuity
of critical medical operations in the face of fiscal uncertainty.
A proposal to expand VA advance appropriations needs to be considered by the
Administration as part of an across-the-government review of the advantages and
disadvantages of such an approach not only for VA, but potentially other programs
and agencies. Only in the context of such a broad review could the Administration
offer an opinion on making such a change for VA. We cannot therefore offer a position on S. 932 at this time. We very much appreciate the concern for Veterans services reflected in the proposal and look forward to working with the Committee on
how to best maintain the provision of VA benefits and services in light of fiscal uncertainties.
S. 935
S. 935, the Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013, would revise statutes pertaining to adjudications and payment of disability benefits.
Section 2 of this bill would prohibit VA from requesting a medical examination
when the claimant submits medical evidence or an opinion from a non-VA provider
that is competent, credible, probative, and adequate for rating purposes. Section 3
would add a third level of pre-stabilization rates under section 4.28 of title 38, Code
of Federal Regulations, that can be assigned to recently discharged Veterans. Currently, pre-stabilization rates include a 50-percent and 100-percent evaluation. This
bill proposes to add a 30-percent evaluation. In addition, the bill would create a new
temporary minimum disability rating. The bill would authorize such a rating for
a Veteran who has one or more disabilities not already covered under the current
temporary-rating scheme and submits a claim for such disability that has sufficient
evidence to support a minimum disability rating. Under section 4, VA would be au-
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thorized to issue benefits payments prior to the month for which such payments are
issued. Currently, VA issues benefits payments on the first of the month for the previous months entitlement.
VA does not support S. 935. VA appreciates the intent of the provisions, which
seek to provide benefits to Veterans more expeditiously. However, as written, these
provisions are, in some respects, unnecessary, unclear, and problematic to implement.
Section 2 of the bill is duplicative of existing law. This section prohibits VA from
requesting a medical examination when evidence that is submitted is adequate for
rating purposes. Section 5103A(d)(2) of title 38, United States Code, notes that an
examination or opinion is only required when the record does not contain sufficient
medical evidence to make a decision. Furthermore, section 5125 of title 38, United
States Code, explicitly notes that private examinations may be sufficient, without
conducting additional VA examinations, for adjudicating claims. VA regulations are
consistent with these statutory requirements. Therefore, this section is unnecessary
and duplicative. VA is already allowed to adjudicate a claim without an examination
if evidence is provided by the claimant that is adequate for rating purposes. There
are no costs associated with section 2.
VA does not support section 3. The intent of this provision and how it would be
implemented are unclear. The existing pre-stabilization rates, 50 percent and 100
percent, are used to compensate Veterans with severe injuries that are unstable and
which materially impair employability. The criteria for when the proposed 30-percent evaluation would be used are not specified. However, generally, a rating of 30
percent indicates that an individual is able to participate in the examination process
and is capable of employment. Because the Veteran would be required to be re-examined and re-evaluated between 6 and 12 months after discharge, this provision
would inconvenience Veterans as well as require additional work on the part of
claims adjudicators and medical examiners.
To the extent the bill would create a whole new category of claimants eligible to
receive a temporary minimum disability rating, VA does not support this provision.
It is unclear how this would be implemented (i.e., whether the term temporary
minimum disability rating refers to the proposed 30 percent pre-stabilization rating
or whether it refers to the current minimum compensable schedular rating of 10
percent. Additionally, it is unclear what is meant by the requirement that the claimant submit sufficient evidence to support a minimum disability rating. If interpreted to mean that the claimant need only submit evidence of a current disability
to be assigned a temporary rating of 30 percent, such a practice would likely result
in frequent overpayments that would later need to be adjusted. Likewise, a Veteran
with multiple disabilities would often be undercompensated. In general, establishing
temporary ratings means that cases will need to be processed twice, which is not
an efficient use of resources. Subsection (c), which directs that cases with pre-stabilization ratings or temporary minimum disability ratings not be counted in the
backlog of disability claims, raises questions about how these cases would be
tracked and counted in VAs workload and concern about data integrity. VA is unable to provide costs for section 3, as the provision is unclear. Additional information concerning the criteria that would create entitlement would be required to determine costs.
VA does not support section 4 of the bill, as its intent is unclear, and it could
create significant administrative burdens and costs for VA. This provision would authorize the Secretary to certify benefit payments so that payments will be delivered
before the first day of the calendar month for which such payments are issued.
VA is already authorized to make payments prior to the first of the month whenever
the first day of the calendar month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal public holiday. The payment VA makes on or near the first of the month is payment for the
prior months entitlement. If the intent of section 4 is to permit VA to make this
payment prior to the first of the month irrespective of whether that date falls on
a weekend or holiday, we recommend replacing the phrase for which such payments are issued with the phrase in which such payments would otherwise be
issued. However, if the intent is to authorize VA to deliver disability payments a
full month in advance, such a change in procedure would raise several concerns. For
a Veteran with an award that is currently ongoing, an additional month of mandatory funding would be required, as an extra payment would need to be made to advance payments to a month-in-advance status. Additionally, paying benefits in advance significantly increases the chances for overpayment of benefits and directly
conflicts with the spirit of the Debt Collection Improvement Act and the Improper
Payment Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act. Current processing allows VA
to prevent payments from being released if a Veteran becomes ineligible during the
month. For example, if a Veteran student drops out of school or passes away during
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the month, VA is able to amend his or her benefit award and prevent payment from
being released. Paying in advance would eliminate VAs ability to prevent this type
of improper payment. Paying benefits prior to the month in which they are earned
would potentially result in increased overpayments.
Absent clarification as discussed above, VA opposes this section of the bill, as it
potentially would create an administrative burden and significant costs in the reprogramming of VAs computer systems. The systems used by VA do not currently
allow prospective payments, and this section would create the need to reprogram
multiple applications.
For section 4, if the intent of the proposed bill is to release benefit payments on
the last day of the month for which they are due, rather than the first of the following month, as is the current practice, VA sees little impact to our internal processes or Office of Information Technology (OIT) applications. This change would require that our schedule of operations be modified by at least 1 business day to send
our bulk payment files to the Department of the Treasury earlier in the month so
payments could be delivered (by mail or electronically) on the last business day of
the month rather than the first of the following month. The Department of the
Treasury does not anticipate this potential change would be an issue with regards
to processing and releasing VA benefit payments.
However, if the intent of section 4 is to issue payments in advance of when they
are due, VA OIT systems would require significant modifications, which would take
longer than the 90-day period allowed to implement this section. For example, if the
intent is that payment for July be received prior to July 1 (e.g., June 30), rather
than August 1, the current functionality that generates the recurring or monthly
payment files would require significant changes. VBA has ten separate OIT payment applications that produce a recurring or monthly payment file that would need
to be modified. Changes of this nature would require significant OIT funding that
is not budgeted and re-prioritization of planned OIT initiatives.
If the intent of section 4 is to release benefit payments on the last day of the
month for which they are due, rather than the first of the following month as is
the current practice, there are no benefit costs or savings associated with section
4. While this provision would impact the timing of outlays, it would not affect obligations. If the intent of section 4 is to issue payments in advance of when they are
due, there would be costs, including costs associated with the increased chances of
overpayments. However, more information would be required to calculate the benefit
costs in this scenario.
S. 938
S. 938, the Franchise Education for Veterans Act of 2013, would amend title 38
United States Code, to allow Veterans who are eligible for educational assistance
under the All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program (chapter 30) or the
Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program (chapter 33) and no longer on active
duty, to pursue training and receive educational assistance for franchise training.
The amount of educational assistance payable under this program shall be, within
any 12-month period in which training is pursued, the sum of the fees assessed by
the training establishment, a monthly housing stipend for each month of training
pursued equal to the monthly amount of the basic allowance for a Servicemember
with dependents in pay grade E5 residing in military housing within the zip code
area of the training establishment, and a monthly stipend in the amount equal to
$83 for each month of training for books, supplies, equipment, and other educational
costs or $15,000, whichever is less.
VA supports the intent of S. 938; however, we cannot support this bill due to significant administrative impacts and a need for further refinement in order to make
this policy executable and supportable. We are unclear how VA would determine
that the franchise training pursued by the Veteran would result in the establishment of a franchise. Franchise training times vary depending on what the franchise
business requirements are (e.g., Meineke may be 4 weeks, whereas 7-Eleven may
be 24 weeks). VA would have to establish ways to measure the franchise training
and conduct adequate oversight to ensure compliance that is necessary for the State
Approving Agencies (SAA) to approve the training programs. It is unclear whether
any limitations should be established as to when VA should approve the individual
pursuit of the franchise training. For example, it is unclear whether VA would need
to ensure the individual who desires to open a business first provide business plans
or proof of funding in order to establish the franchise.
Due to the need to develop regulations to provide rules to administer this new
benefit type, provide training to the SAAs who will approve the training, and provide training to the field offices on processing, VA recommends that this provision
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become effective at the beginning of a fiscal year but no earlier than 12 months from
date of enactment.
VA estimates that benefit costs associated with enactment of S. 938 would be $1.5
million in the first year, $7.5 million over 5 years, and a total of $15.0 million over
10 years.
S. 944
S. 944, the Veterans Educational Transition Act of 2013, would amend section
3679 of title 38, United States Code, by adding a new subsection at the end. The
new subsection would require VA to disapprove any course offered by a public institution of higher education that does not charge Veterans and eligible dependents
pursuing a course of education with educational assistance under the All-Volunteer
Force Educational Assistance Program (chapter 30) or the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program (chapter 33), in-state tuition, and fees, regardless of their state of
residence.
Under this legislation, a covered individual would be a Veteran who was discharged or released from a period of no less than 180 days of service in the active
military, naval, or air service less than 2 years before the date of enrollment in the
course concerned, or an individual who is entitled to assistance under section
3311(b)(9) or 3319 of title 38 by virtue of such individuals relationship to a covered
Veteran.
S. 944 would apply to educational assistance provided for pursuit of programs of
education during academic terms that begin after July 1, 2015.
While VA is sympathetic to the issue of rising educational costs, we cannot endorse this legislation until we know more about the impact. VA is concerned that
possible reductions in course offerings could be the result from this requirement,
which could negatively impact Veterans educational choices. In-state tuition rules
are set by individual States and are undoubtedly driven by overall fiscal factors and
other policy considerations.
Enactment of S. 944 may result in cost savings for VA because the Department
would no longer make Yellow Ribbon program payments to public institutions of
higher learningthese schools would either charge in-state tuition, negating the
need to make up the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition, or the
school would cease to be approved for VA education benefit participation. However,
as noted above, it is difficult to project the effect of this legislation on the courses
offered by public educational institutions, so students may choose not to use their
benefits at all because of reduced educational choices.
VA estimates that benefit savings to the Readjustment Benefits account would be
$70.2 million over 5 years and $206.2 million over 10 years.
VA estimates that there would be no additional GOE administrative costs required to implement this amendment.
S. 1039
S. 1039, the Spouses of Heroes Education Act, would amend the Post-9/11 GI
Bill (chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code) to expand the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry scholarship to include spouses of members of the Armed
Forces who die in the line of duty. Currently, only children of Servicemembers who
die in the line of duty while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces are eligible
for such education benefits.
This bill would make spouses eligible for education benefits under chapter 33 for
15 years from the date of the Servicemembers death, or the date on which the
spouse remarries, whichever comes first.
A surviving spouse who establishes chapter 33 eligibility based on this bill and
is also eligible for education benefits under the Dependents Educational Assistance
(chapter 35) program would have to make an irrevocable election with respect to receipt of educational assistance (under one program only).
S. 1039 also would amend section 3321(b)(4) of title 38 to specify that the period
of eligibility for a child entitled to Post-9/11 GI Bill educational assistance under
the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry scholarship expires 15 years after the
childs eighteenth birthday.
VA supports S. 1039, subject to Congress identifying appropriate offsets for the
benefit costs. If enacted, this legislation would offer eligible surviving spouses more
generous monetary benefits than they are currently eligible to receive. Currently,
a surviving spouse of a Servicemember who dies in the line of duty may receive education benefits under chapter 35, which include a 20-year delimiting date, 45
months of entitlement, and a current full-time monthly rate of $987. Under this legislation, eligible spouses would receive full tuition and fees at a public institution
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(or the maximum amount payable at private institutions), a housing allowance, and
a books and supplies stipend of up to $1,000.
Since the benefits are greater under chapter 33 than under chapter 35, VA anticipates surviving spouses would elect to receive benefits under chapter 33. As a consequence, this would decrease the number of chapter 35 beneficiaries.
VA estimates that, if enacted, S. 1039 would result in benefit costs to VA of $10.3
million during the first year, $67.7 million for 5 years, and $163.9 million over 10
years. No administrative or personnel costs to VA are associated with this bill. VA
IT costs are estimated to be $9.3 million. These costs include enhancements to the
Post-9/11 GI Bill Long-Term Solution. If these IT enhancements could not be implemented, manual processing of claims would be required, which would result in an
overall decrease in timeliness and accuracy in processing Post-9/11 GI Bill claims.
We estimate that VA would need one year from date of enactment to implement this
change.
S. 1042
S. 1042, the Veterans Legal Support Act of 2013, would allow the Secretary to
provide support to one or more university law school programs that are designed
to provide legal assistance to Veterans. Funding for such programs would be derived
from amounts appropriated for or made available to the Medical Services account
of VA.
VA does not support S. 1042. While VA supports the endeavors of university law
school programs to assist Veterans in seeking VA benefits, it does not believe such
a program would be an effective use of Medical Services funds.
Under the terms of the bill, the amount that can be expended in any one year
is limited to $1 million.
RESPONSE
TO
POSTHEARING QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. BERNARD SANDERS

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
TO
Question 1. Section 201 of S. 928 would amend section 7105(b)(1) of title 38 to require claimants seeking appellate review of a VA decision to file a notice of disagreement (NOD) within 180 days from the date VA mails such decision to the claimant.
For the last three fiscal years please provide the following:
i. Total number of notice of disagreements filed with VA;
Response.
Fiscal Year 2013: 117,472
ii. Number and percentage of notice of disagreements that were filed within 0
30 days, 3160 days, 6190 days, 91189 days, and 181365 days.
Response.
0-30 days
FY 2013 ............................
FY 2012 ............................
FY 2011 ............................
31-60 days
61-90 days
91-180 days
181+ days
Number
Pct.
Number
Pct.
Number
Pct.
Number
Pct.
Number
Pct.
40,819
39,518
40,025
35%
34%
32%
19,911
19,726
20,871
17%
17%
16%
10,336
10,645
11,613
9%
9%
9%
17,426
18,318
20,199
15%
16%
16%
28,980
28,595
33,957
25%
24%
27%
Question 2. VAs written testimony in regards to section 201 of S. 928 states

* * * If a claimant waits until the end of the 1-year period to file a NOD, VA is
often required to re-develop the record to ensure the evidence of record is up to date.
Data support the conclusion that such late-term development delays the resolution
of the claim.
a. What data supports the conclusion that late-term development delays resolution of the claim? Please provide this data to the Committee.
Response. There is a well-established pattern within the appeals system that the
longer an individual takes to appeal his or her decision; the more likely it is that
further development will be necessary. For example, a Veteran filing an appeal after
340 days from the decision is much more likely to have had medical treatment during those 340 days than an individual that filed an appeal after 27 days. This requires VA to develop for such evidence, which in turn leads to a longer appeals resolution time.
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The table below includes data pulled from VAs Veterans Appeals Control and Locator System (VACOLS) on June 24, 2013. A review of fiscal years 20092012 data
reveals evidence of a direct relationship between later filing (beyond 300 days) and
longer resolution times. Notice of Disagreements (NOD) filed after 300 days took 36
days longer on average to resolve than the entire inventory of NODs, 42 days longer
than those filed between 3160 days, and 55 days longer than those filed within 30
days.
Days from RO Decision to NOD
Days to BVA Decision
Fiscal Year 2012

030 ................................................................
3160 ..............................................................
300+ ...............................................................
Average for all NODs ......................................
1,325
1,355
1,383
1,348
Fiscal Year 2011

030 ................................................................
3160 ..............................................................
300+ ...............................................................
1,175
1,182
1,228
1,196
Fiscal Year 2010

030 ................................................................
3160 ..............................................................
300+ ...............................................................
1,153
1,156
1,202
1,169
Fiscal Year 2009

030 ................................................................
3160 ..............................................................
300+ ...............................................................
1,143
1,155
1,201
1,159
Question 3. During a discussion of the interoperability of DOD and VA medical

record systems, Mr. Murphys oral testimony discussed the delivery by DOD of certified complete service treatment records. VA stated that * * * 97 percent of those
records are being delivered with a certified complete statement on top.
a. Please provide the Committee with copies of all previous and current agreements, including but not limited to the December 6, 2012, agreement and February 22, 2013 amended agreement referenced in Fast Letter 1309, between DOD
and VA on certification and transfer of service treatment records.
Response. The Fast Letter and agreements follow:
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Based on the December 6, 2012 agreement, Fast Letter 1309 was issued on January 1, 2013, and did not require service treatment records (STR) certification letters to contain the Servicemembers name and last four digits of his or her social
security number (SSN). On February 22, 2013, the agreement with DOD was
amended to require the military services to provide the name and last four digits
of the Servicemembers SSN on each certification letter. DD Form 2963, STR Transfer or Certification, was published on June 25, 2013, for implementation effective
August 1, 2013. Full implementation by the services is expected by November 1,
2013.
b. Please provide the Committee with the following information:
i. Number of service treatment records, by military department, received
since implementation of the December 6th agreement.
Response. Please see the below chart with the number of service treatment
records received by branch of service from January 2013 through June 21, 2013.
JanMar
ARMY .........................................................................................................
NAVY ..........................................................................................................
MARINE CORPS ..........................................................................................
AIR FORCE .................................................................................................
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15,074
10,177
9,814
8,708
AprJun 21
Total Received
11,374
8,271
6,332
8,824
26,448
18,448
16,146
17,532
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73
Branch of Service
JanMar
AprJun 21
Total Received
COAST GUARD ...........................................................................................
495
545
1,040
TOTAL ................................................................................................
44,268
35,346
79,614
ii. Number of service treatment records, by military department, with certification received since implementation of the December 6th agreement.
Response. The Records Management Center (RMC) began tracking and reporting STR certification compliance in April 2012. The following data was collected from April 2012 through June 21, 2013.
STRs Certified
with 1/1/13
Guidance
STRs Certified
with 2/22/13
Guidance**
Branch of Service
Non-Availability
Letter*
Total
Received
ARMY ..........................................................................................
NAVY ...........................................................................................
MARINE CORPS ...........................................................................
AIR FORCE ..................................................................................
COAST GUARD ............................................................................
1,134
559
198
908
24
4,335
1,552
1,829
4,574
117
1,942
782
445
2,592
73
7,411
2,893
2,472
8,074
214
TOTAL .................................................................................
2,823
12,407
5,834
21,064
*A non-availability letter is used when a complete STR is unavailable (i.e., Medical Only, Dental Only, or partial STRs).
**Letter is substantially similar to version implemented 01/01/2013, but includes Veterans name and last 4 of SSN
At the end of May 2013, the RMC Director and the five service branches discussed
the current process and established a way forward to ensure STRs were complete.
On June 4, 2013, the Navy posted Servicemembers at the RMC to assist with obtaining a certification letter for all STRs for both the Navy and Marines.
DD Form 2963, STR Transfer or Certification, was published on June 25, 2013,
for implementation effective August 1, 2013. Full implementation by the services is
expected by November 1, 2013.
iii. Number of service treatment records, by military department, with certification received since implementation of the December 6th agreement that met
the requirements of Fast Letter 1309.
Response. Please see the chart in the previous response.
iv. Since May 31, 2013, how many service treatment records have been returned to the appropriate military service because they were not transmitted
with the required certification letter?
Response. Since May 31, 2013, 32 STRs have been returned due to lacking the
required certification letter.
c. How many service treatment records have been requested from the National
Guard or Reserves while this agreement has been in effect and how many service
treatment records have been received with the required certification?
Response. The legacy systems do not identify Veterans based on service component (active or reserve). The reserve components do not capture whether the member is assigned to the Guard or Reserves specifically. Although VA has the ability
to pull data from VADIR that will identify members of the Guard and Reserve, that
information does not provide how many claims require STRs.
d. If the service treatment records from one component, such as the National
Guard are certified complete, will VA take any action where a veteran reports treatment during active duty with a different unit or component, but the treatment information is not included in the certified record? If so, what actions will be taken?
Response. These records are not received as certified if the member is still serving. For those who have separated or retired, current guidance in Fast Letter 13
09 states:
STRs are the outpatient treatment records and discharge summaries of
inpatient care only. The STRs do not include the full inpatient treatment
records or behavior health records. The inpatient records and behavior
health records will not contain a certification letter.
Development for additional paper STRs should only be conducted on
these certified STRs when:
1. The Veteran alleges treatment at a specific military treatment facility
for a specific timeframe and,
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2. That treatment information is not included within the certified paper
STRs.
A request for the needed paper STRs should be sent to the military point
of contact on the paper STRs certification letter and all follow-ups should
follow the guidance outlined in the M211MR III.iii.2.I.61 titled General
Information on Special Follow-Up by Military Records Specialists.
Question 4. VAs written testimony indicated that the Department does not support section 104 of S. 928 on the basis that Indian tribes engage in a broad scope
of governance activities, often lack veteran-specific focus, and are not among the organizations that, by regulation, can recognize representatives to prepare, present or
prosecute claims. States and regional or local organizations can recognize representatives to prepare, present or prosecute claims. Like states, some Indian tribes have
departments and offices responsible for administering benefits and services to eligible veterans, including persons who participate in VAs tribal veteran representative
program. Given that geographical challenges can result in very little involvement
on tribal lands from organizations that have recognized representatives, please explain why Indian tribes should not be provided that same opportunity to recognize
their own representatives, under the criteria outlined in sections 14.628 and 14.629
of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations.
Response. VAs discretionary authority to recognize national, state, and regional/
local organizations is derived from 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) 5902(a)(1). Pursuant to the authority granted in section 5902(a)(1), VA has established in 38 CFR
14.628 requirements for recognition of organizations to assist Veterans in the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of claims before VA. Under section 14.628, an
organization seeking recognition must, among other requirements, have as a primary purpose serving Veterans, demonstrate a substantial service commitment to
Veterans, and commit a significant portion of its assets to Veterans services. These
criteria are consistent with the purpose of VAs recognition regulations to ensure
that claimants for VA benefits have responsible, qualified representation, 38 CFR
14.626, and have been considered necessary characteristics of an organization that
will be recognized in providing representation to Veterans.
Under S. 928, as drafted, all Indian tribes, regardless of their size and their capability and resources to represent Veterans, and without applying for or meeting the
requirements for VA recognition applicable to other organizations seeking to represent Veterans, would be placed on a par with the five organizations specifically
identified by Congress in authorizing VA recognition of organizations and their representatives. The draft legislation would seemingly assume that all Indian tribes
have the capability to provide qualified, responsible representation to Veterans and
are prepared to certify to VA that certain of their members are qualified to represent Veterans before VA.
Under current law, an Indian tribe Veterans service department may apply for
VA recognition as a regional or local organization and may be recognized for purposes of providing representation services before VA if the organization satisfies the
requirements for recognition under section 14.628. If an Indian tribe does not currently have a Veterans service department, a particular tribe or group of tribal Veterans representatives could establish a separate organization to provide representation services to Veteran members of Indian tribes with claims before VA and then
apply for VA recognition as a regional or local organization. The organization would
be required to submit information and documentation addressing each of the section
14.628 requirements. For instance, the application would have to include information regarding the organization and its purpose, such as a charter or bylaws of the
organization; financial statements establishing the organizations financial viability;
and the organizations plans regarding recruitment, training, and supervision of its
representatives. If VA were to recognize such an organization, the organization
could then certify for VA accreditation members of the organization who could provide representation services to Veteran members of Indian tribes.
Also, currently, a member of an Indian tribe may request accreditation to assist
Veterans in the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of claims for VA benefits
as an agent or attorney under 38 CFR 14.629(b) or as a representative of a currently recognized Veterans Service Organization under 38 CFR 14.629(a).
Nonetheless, to the extent the intent is that the proposed legislation explicitly
provide a means for Indian tribe Veterans service departments to seek VA recognition in a manner similar to state Veterans affairs departments, and to expressly authorize VA to recognize particular Indian tribe Veterans service departments for
purposes of providing representation services if the organizations apply for VA recognition and meet the requirements for recognition under section 14.628, the insertion of , including organizations of Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the In-
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dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450(b)), after
and such other organizations in section 5902(a)(1) would achieve that purpose and
would be consistent with VAs current practice with respect to recognizing national,
state, and regional or local Veterans organizations to ensure the provision of qualified, responsible representation to claimants for VA benefits.
Question 5. Unlike the Medicaid program, VAs pension program does not have
any set aside of assets for the spouse of an institutionalized veteran who is residing
in a health care facility. VHA has allowed a set aside of assets for the spouse of
a veteran receiving health care in a long term care facility when assessing co-payments. VHA recently proposed amending their asset exclusion for a spouse residing
in the community to match the amount allowed under Medicaid. 78 FR 23702
(April 22, 2013). S. 748 does not provide community spouses of veterans asset protections similar to those afforded to Medicaid recipients or recipients of VHA long
term care. Would VA support providing similar protections to spouses provided by
VHA to VBA pensioners?
Response. While it is true that there is no express set aside of assets for the
spouse of an institutionalized Veteran who has applied for VA pension, VA has implemented the pension program in a manner that prevents the impoverishment of
a spouse. Under current VA regulations, VA will deny pension when the estate of
the Veteran, and of the Veterans spouse, are such that under all of the circumstances, it is reasonable that some part of the corpus of such estates be consumed for the Veterans maintenance. In determining whether it would be reasonable to require such consumption, VA evaluates a number of factors, such as the
claimants income, whether property can be readily converted to cash, life expectancy, number of dependents, potential rate of depletion of assets, and medical expenses. This multi-factor evaluation generally provides a level of protection for
spouses of institutionalized Veterans that is near the upper limit of the Community
Spouse Resource Standard (CSRS) that Congress authorized for Medicaid. However,
current VA regulations do not prescribe a bright-line net worth limit for pension eligibility that is based upon the CSRS or any other objective standard. The Veterans
Benefits Administrations (VBA) Pension and Fiduciary (P&F) Service has drafted
regulations that would establish such a limit and provide clear notice regarding protected assets. The draft regulations are under review within VA. Accordingly, VA
is already taking steps to address Chairman Sanders concerns.
Question 6. VAs testimony indicated concerns with the length and methodology
of the look back period. Please explain the impact of the effect of the bills methodology on veterans who transferred substantial assets (such as over a million dollars)
and veterans who have transferred an amount which does not exceed the asset
amount the veteran would be permitted to keep and still qualify for pension.
Response. For purposes of our response, assume that VA has established a net
worth limit of $80,000, and that one Veteran transfers $80,000 prior to applying for
pension and another transfers $1,000,000. Also assume that both Veterans transferred all of their resources and have no net worth when they apply for pension.
Under S. 748, the Veteran who transferred $80,000 would not have a penalty period, while the Veteran who transferred $1,000,000 would have a 3-year penalty
period.
However, if the first Veteran transferred $82,000 rather than $80,000, S. 748
would prescribe a penalty period based upon the entire $82,000 (rather than on
$2,000), and the Veteran who transferred $82,000 would have the same 3-year penalty period as the Veteran who transferred $1,000,000.
RESPONSE
TO
POSTHEARING QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. RICHARD BURR

TO
Question 1. If the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) finds that veterans or

other VA beneficiaries need help with their finances, VA assigns a fiduciary to help
them and also sends their names to be included in the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS). At the hearing, VA testified that it could be a
physical disability, rather than a mental condition, that leads to assignment of a
fiduciary.
a. Of the individuals VA has sent to the NICS list, how many are suffering from
physical impairments, rather than mental ailments?
Response. To clarify, VA regulations specify that determinations of competency for
purposes of the VA fiduciary program are based on mental competency, and not on
physical disability status. The majority of VA beneficiaries on the NICS list suffer
from mental disabilities that inhibit their ability to manage their VA affairs. Some
individuals suffer from physical disabilities with co-existing mental conditions that
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affect their capacity to handle their VA financial affairs (e.g., amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, Traumatic Brain Injury). VA does not have data on the number of incompetent beneficiaries who fall into this category.
b. Once their names are sent to the NICS list, are they included on that list under
the category for people with mental health conditions?
Response. Incompetent Veterans and other incompetent beneficiaries are reported
to the NICS list as mental defectives, per 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4).
c. Under what legal authority does VA or the Department of Justice require the
names of individuals with physical disabilities to be sent to a database for individuals with mental impairments?
Response. Some individuals suffer from physical disabilities with co-existing mental conditions that affect their capacity to handle their VA financial affairs (e.g.,
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Traumatic Brain Injury). This may perhaps lead to
the need to appoint a fiduciary to manage their VA affairs. These individuals are
determined to be incompetent for VA purposes, and thus are reported to the NICS
list. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 (Public Law 103159), as
implemented by Department of Justice regulations at 27 CFR 478.11, requires VA
to report these individuals.
Question 2. Of the individuals VA has sent to the NICS list, how many are older
than 85 years old?
Response. VA has sent information on 65,725 individuals age 85 or older to the
NICS list, including 19,627 Veterans.
Question 3. VA beneficiaries who have trouble with their finances can try to keep
their names off the NICS list by seeking relief from VA and proving they are not
a risk to public safety.
a. How many individuals have sought relief from VA through this process?
Response. Since the NICS Improvements Amendments Act of 2007(NIAA) was effective, 236 individuals have sought relief through VA from the NICS list.
b. Has VA notified all individuals with fiduciaries that this relief process exists?
If so, how was that done and how does VA gauge whether that notice was effective?
Response. Notice of the relief process is provided to an individual before and after
a rating of incompetency. VA has received 236 requests for relief, thus we believe
the notifications to be effective.
c. As of June 2012, VA had granted seven requests for relief from the NICS reporting requirements. How many requests have now been granted?
Response. To date, seven relief requests have been granted.
d. In July 2012, VA suspended processing requests for NICS relief so VA could
revise its policy to require anyone seeking relief to also undergo a criminal history
background check. Is that moratorium on deciding NICS relief requests still in
place? If not, when was it lifted?
Response. As of June 20, 2013, the moratorium on deciding NICS relief requests
was lifted.
e. How many NICS relief requests are currently pending and how long on average
have they been waiting for a decision?
Response. Forty relief requests are currently pending. Because processing those
requests was temporarily suspended, the average wait time rose to 292 days. Since
processing has resumed, those cases will be expeditiously processed.
f. Does VA plan to require veterans and their families to pay for the costs of any
background checks?
Response. VA does not plan to require Veterans and their families to pay for the
costs of any background checks.
g. Would a criminal history background check be required for young children who
have fiduciaries?
Response. In all cases, benefit payments to minors are made to a parent guardian,
or fiduciary on their behalf. Mental incompetency for VA purposes would only become an issue for individuals age 18 or older.
h. Would a criminal history background check be required for individuals of extremely advanced age with limited mobility?
Response. All persons of age 18 or older are required to follow state and Federal
laws requiring a criminal history background check. VA requires a criminal history
for anyone before receiving a grant of relief under the NIAA.
i. Would a criminal history background check be required if VA already has clear
evidence that the veteran or family member is not dangerous?
Response. All persons of age 18 or older would be required to follow state and
Federal laws requiring a criminal history background check. VA would require a
criminal history for anyone before receiving a grant of relief under the NIAA.
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j. Please quantify the resources that VA expects to use to adjudicate these requests for NICS relief, in terms of the number of hours worked, number of employees designated to work on these requests, or funding required.
Response. Each VA regional office assigns an individual or individuals to make
determinations for relief. The amount of hours worked, or funding required, would
be dependent on the volume of relief requests received in any given time period for
a particular regional office.
Question 4. Last year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that
over 200 companies are marketing financial products to veterans and their families
in order to help them qualify for need-based pension by manipulating their assets.
GAO recommended that Congress create a look-back period, so VA can check
whether a pension applicant moved assets before applying for pension. In response,
VA indicated that it was already drafting regulations along those lines.
a. Other than the GAO investigation, what led VA to believe a look-back period
may be necessary?
Response. VBA created its Pension and Fiduciary Service (P&F) in 2011 to improve the pension program and focus on the unique needs of pension beneficiaries.
In its initial assessment of the program, which preceded GAOs investigation, P&F
Service determined that current VA regulations did not adequately preserve the
pension program for Veterans and survivors who have an actual need. The regulations permitted claimants to transfer assets prior to applying for pension, so long
as the claimant relinquished all ownership and control over the assets. In addition,
VBA had received complaints about financial planning businesses seeking to exploit
asset transfers through the marketing of certain financial products, such as annuities and trusts, to Veterans and survivors. P&F Service determined that the pension program was at risk for becoming an estate planning tool rather than a needsbased program for wartime Veterans and their survivors.
b. What is the status of those draft regulations?
Response. The regulations are under review in VA.
Question 5. There were a number of bills on the agenda that deal with the tuition
costs for veterans and their family members who are attending public institutions
of higher education.
a. How many Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill users are currently attending public institutions of higher education?
Response. While VA does not have data that will show how many Post-9/11 GI
Bill or Montgomery GI Bill users are currently attending public institutions of higher education, the table below shows the number of Post- 9/11 GI Bill beneficiaries
that attended public, private for-profit, and private nonprofit domestic institutions
from August 1, 2009, to January 17, 2013. Please note that the chart does not count
unique program participants.
Post-9/11 GI Bill Number Trained by

Domestic Institution Type
(August 1, 2009January 17, 2013)
Profit Status
Trainees
Public ............................................................................
Private profit ................................................................
Private nonprofit ...........................................................
632,005
325,105
185,995
Total .....................................................................
1,143,105
b. Of those, how many are estimated to be paying more than in-state tuition
rates?
Response. VA does not have data that will show how many VA education beneficiaries are paying more than in-state tuition rates.
Question 6. Section 233 of Public Law 11256, which included the VOW to Hire
Heroes Act of 2011, entitled a veteran who had previously completed a vocational
rehabilitation program and has exhausted state unemployment benefits to an additional 12-month period of vocational rehabilitation and employment services.
a. Since this expansion has been implemented, how many veterans have been approved for the additional 12 months of entitlement and started a new vocational rehabilitation program?
Response. Four Veterans started a new vocational program under this provision
between May 2012 and June 2013.
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b. If few have utilized it, are there other options that should be considered to improve vocational rehabilitation and employment programs to meet the needs of
veterans?
Response. Before enactment of this law, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) estimated that few Veterans would qualify under this provision. Most
Veterans who meet the criteria under Section 233 would already be found eligible
under existing VR&E regulations.
Question 7. S. 819, the Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act, would
incentivize veterans to seek treatment for certain conditions, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A veteran may receive an initial rating of less than
100% but, over the years, may submit claims to increase the rating if the veterans
symptoms deteriorate. Eventually, a veteran could be rated 100 percent disabled
and unable to work. The goal of the bill would be to provide veterans with early
treatment and, hopefully, stop or slow down the progression to the 100 percent and
unemployable determination later in life.
a. In total, how many veterans receive disability compensation from VA for PTSD?
Response. There are 625,820 Veterans currently receiving disability compensation
who have a service-connected PTSD rating, including 4,190 Veterans rated 0 percent
for PTSD.
b. How many of the current generation of veteransthose who served in Iraq and
Afghanistanare receiving disability compensation for PTSD?
Response. Of the 625,820 Veterans currently receiving compensation who are
service-connected for PTSD, 188,903 Veterans served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
c. Please provide the Committee with the number of veterans receiving disability
compensation for PTSD since 2001. Please break this data out by the rating percentage.
Response. Please see Attachment A Spreadsheet.
Attachment A
Number of Veterans Service Connected for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Fiscal Year
10
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
...........................
1,213
1,261
1,319
1,303
1,319
1,440
1,725
1,965
2,125
2,359
2,754
3,072
17,485
17,066
17,198
16,871
17,269
18,385
21,453
24,166
26,080
28,272
31,831
31,672
12
17
22
26
28
25
30
28
30
40
54
64
36,421
40,879
47,119
51,778
58,252
66,236
77,678
90,206
104,375
120,780
142,634
154,107
11
14
19
21
21
30
27
27
33
36
49
50
30,594
35,914
43,044
49,315
56,790
63,649
72,392
82,907
94,892
109,393
128,457
152,737
6
6
7
7
8
7
12
17
15
17
21
26
26,899
34,254
43,536
52,242
60,553
66,360
73,936
81,681
91,952
105,075
119,885
146,835
FYTD 2013 ..............
4,190
32,691
62
162,247
54
170,101
31
166,239
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
100
Total
1
2
2
1
1
1
2
2
2
0
0
0
34,808
39,099
44,429
49,319
53,705
56,465
60,066
63,668
67,296
71,252
75,493
83,917
147,422
168,485
196,641
220,850
247,918
272,541
307,321
344,667
386,800
437,224
501,178
572,480
90,205
625,820
d. What is the average disability rating assigned when an individual first applies
for compensation for PTSD?
Response. The average degree of disability for Veterans who initially apply for
service connection for PTSD is 50 percent.
e. Can you provide the number of veterans with an initial PTSD rating less than
100% who eventually apply for an increased rating?
Response. As of June 2013, 129,035 Veterans have applied for an increased rating
for PTSD in FY 2013. Please see Sheet B of Attachment A for the number of Veterans that applied for an increased rating for PTSD by year since FY 2001.
Attachment A, Sheet B
Total Number of Unique Veterans per FY Who Applied for an
Increased PTSD Rating
Fiscal Year
Total
2001 ..........................................................................
2002 ..........................................................................
2003 ..........................................................................
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6,463
61,175
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Attachment A, Sheet BContinued
Total Number of Unique Veterans per FY Who Applied for an
Increased PTSD Rating
Fiscal Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
RESPONSE
TO
Total
..........................................................................
..........................................................................
..........................................................................
..........................................................................
..........................................................................
..........................................................................
..........................................................................
..........................................................................
..........................................................................
108,207
117,147
117,923
127,596
148,105
173,039
227,484
232,716
223,021
FYTD 2013 ............................................................
129,035
POSTHEARING QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. JON TESTER

TO
Question 1. Deputy Undersecretary Coys written testimony for S. 294 stated:

Prior to these training initiatives, the grant rate for PTSD claims based on MST
was about 38 percent. Following the training, the grant rate rose and at the end
of February 2013 stood at about 52 percent, which is roughly comparable to the approximate 59-percent grant rate for all PTSD claims.
a. Please provide data used by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to
make this determination.
Response. Please see Attachment A above, which contains grant rates for PTSD.
As discussed in testimony, VBA conducted Military Sexual Trauma (MST) training
in December 2011.
b. Does the VBA have data on MST-related claims which have been denied or remanded at the Board of Veterans Appeals?
Response.
FY 2013 .....................................................................................
FY 2012 .....................................................................................
FY 2011 .....................................................................................
Total
Allowed
Denied
Remanded
Other
(dismissed/
withdrawn)
249
257
280
76
85
98
39
38
56
126
129
119
8
5
7
Question 2. Please provide data and methodology used by the VA to determine the
cost of S. 294.
Response. Please see the following methodology.
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RESPONSE
TO
POSTHEARING QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. MARK BEGICH

TO
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Question 1. I see you have not weighed in on my bill S. 932, Putting Veterans
Funding First Act of 2013. This bill will provide for advance appropriations for discretionary accounts other than what was authorized in 2009.
I believe I have heard the Secretary mention the value of advanced appropriations
for the medical services and I know some of the VSOs want to see some of the other
important programs be included in advanced appropriations for continuity of care
for veterans.
What do you see as obstacles to this advance and tell me what the advantages
would be for the VA? Do you see any savings in doing a two year budget for the
other programs?
Response. As noted in the Departments views on S. 932, the issues and implications raised by the expansion of advance appropriation as called for in S. 932 are
ones that must be considered by the Administration in the context of Governmentwide budget policy and operations.
Question 2. I cosponsored Senator Burrs bill to authorize the VA to issue cards
to veterans that identify themselves as veterans. We have many veterans in Alaska
who do not receive health care from the VA, but feel they served their country and
want to have an identifier as a Veteran. My state did pass a drivers license identifier for vets; however there are some businesses that do not accept it. You did not
submit a view on this bill, and I would like you to respond to at least the concept
and give any reason you may not support the bill.
Response. As an advocate for Veterans, VA is pleased to see others recognize the
service and sacrifice of these men and women.
VA issues a single-purpose identity card for Veterans enrolled in VA health care.
Having two VA-issued cards could cause confusion. Although the bill does state that
the card would not by itself establish eligibility, there could nonetheless be misunderstandings by Veterans that a Government benefit is conferred by the card.
VA neither encourages nor discourages private companies from recognizing Veterans for discounts and charity events. However, it is in the companys sole discre-
84
tion to determine what documentation they are willing to accept to qualify for their
special offers. VA encourages companies to accept a broad range of documents for
verifying Veteran status to include DD Form 214, Military Retiree Identification
Card, and state issued drivers licenses with Veterans designation.
All states have some kind of structured identity program and infrastructure that
are better suited to satisfy this need. Currently over 30 states provide Veterans designation on state drivers licenses.
At this time, VA does not have an estimate of the portion of our 22.4 million Veterans that would apply for such a card. VA cannot produce a cost estimate for
S. 778.
Question 3. Regarding fiduciary responsibility of the VA, please provide me with
the laws and regulations that either direct, or authorize, the VA to submit individuals to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Please include
legal justification for VA submitting individuals who have physical disabilities or
who have voluntarily surrendered their fiduciary responsibilities.
Response. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 (Brady Act) (Public Law 103159), as implemented by Department of Justice regulations at 27 CFR
478.11, is the legal authority that requires VA to report these individuals to the
National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The Department of
Justice regulations include within the definition of mental defective, for purposes of
NICS reporting under the Brady Act, persons who have been determined by a court,
board, commission, or other legal authority to lack the mental capacity to contract
or manage their own affairs. A VA determination of incompetency for the purpose
of the VA fiduciary program falls within the scope of this definition.
Some individuals suffer from physical disabilities with co-existing mental conditions that affect their capacity to handle their VA financial affairs (e.g., amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, Traumatic Brain Injury). This may perhaps lead to the need to appoint a fiduciary to manage their VA affairs. These individuals are determined to
be incompetent for VA purposes, and thus are reported to the NICS list.
VA does not provide a fiduciary at an individuals request. An individual must
meet the criteria as incompetent for managing their VA affairs to be assigned a
fiduciary.
Chairman SANDERS. Thank you very much, Mr. Coy. Thank you
all for being here. Before I get to my written questions, let me just
ask if anyone wants to respond.
As you know, probably the major issue of concern for the veterans community and to this Committee has been the backlog. So,
my question is a simple one. As we transform the entire system
and I think that was long overdueI think it should have been
done years before we began this. But be that as it may, as we make
that transformation from paper to paperless, in your judgment, are
we making progress?
Mr. COY. Sir, I will defer that question to my colleague, Tom
Murphy. He is very well vested in that process.
Mr. MURPHY. Yes, Mr. Chairman, we are. We are making significant progress. We, for the first time, have VBMS fielded in all regional offices in the country.
It is generation one software, but we are seeing more rapid development, improvements in performance of individuals and their
ability to process claims and move them through. Over time we
have seen the savings from not literally shipping as many boxes of
files back and forth across the country. So, just those shipping fees
are now taken out of the process.
So, we are starting to see the leverage from moving to the
paperless system; and as that transition continues over the next
year plus, we will see more benefits of that.
Chairman SANDERS. In your judgment, do you think we will
reach the goal, the very ambitious goal established by the
Secretary?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes, sir, I do.
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Chairman SANDERS. OK. Thank you very much.
Mr. Coy, let me begin with you, although I believe this question
may be best answered by Mr. Murphy. It deals with the Claims
Processing Improvement Act which I have introduced, and there
are a number of important provisions in that legislation which I
am pleased to see VA indicating support for some of. I would like
to discuss a couple of the provisions for which VA did not provide
views.
First, this Committee has a responsibility to exercise aggressive
oversight of VAs efforts to address the backlog. In other words,
once again it is beyond my comprehension why it took so long for
VA to move from paper to paperless. I applaud the Secretary for
finally undertaking that very ambitious goal; but the job of this
Committee is to make sure that that goal is achieved.
So, my question to you, Mr. Murphy, is, do you agree that this
Committee and the public needs to be able to measure VAs
progress? In other words, the Secretary, to his credit, did what very
few people do: he put it right out there on the table. And correct
me if I am wrong, but he said by the end of 2015 all claims would
be processed within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy. Is that
what he stated?
Mr. MURPHY. That is correct, sir.
Chairman SANDERS. OK, and what I just heard you say a moment ago is you believe that we are on target to reach that very
ambitious goal.
Mr. MURPHY. Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman SANDERS. OK. So, what I want this Committee to be
able to do is to make sure that we are monitoring effectively on a
periodic basis our progress toward reaching that goal.
Do you agree that that is a reasonable thing for the American
people to be doing?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman, and you point out there
are some provisions of the bill that we have not put official testimony on, but I can speak to that in a very general sense.
What we are talking about here is specific publicly posted performance for all to see and understand exactly what VA is doing
and the progress we are making toward the Secretarys goals of 125
days, 98 percent.
We have been reporting publicly for some time now all of the performance that we have on our ASPIRE Web site available to everybody, and we would be interested in discussing with you and the
Committee on any further reportings that you would be talking
about and talking about some of the details in your bill.
Chairman SANDERS. Good. That is what we are talking about. I
personally believe that visibility into actual production when measured against projected workload and production will allow stakeholders to see what benchmarks VA must hit in order to reach the
Secretarys goals.
In other words, here is what we want. We do not want in late
2015 for you to come in here and say, you know, we hoped that we
would be able to do that but it turns out we cannot.
We want to be monitoring you at least on a quarterly basis to
see what your goals are, where you think you should be, and in
fact, where you are. Does that make sense to you?
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Mr. MURPHY. Yes, it does, Mr. Chairman, and I have got to point
out some numbers showing that we are making progress in that regard. The backlog reduction of approximate 74,000 cases in our
overall inventory reduction is 44,000 cases just in the last 45 days.
What is significant about those numbers when we are talking
about such a large volume of cases, it is not, well, that is the game
changer; but it does indicate that we are at a tipping point. In
order to break the backlog, we need to be putting more work out
the door than is coming in and we are there solidly month after
month, consistently now.
Chairman SANDERS. So, what you are telling usand by the
way, this is very good news for the American peopleis that you
think right now the backlog is decreasing. You think as the transformation of the system becomes firmer and we are more and more
into digital rather than paper, you are going to see that backlog go
down. Is that what you are telling us?
Mr. MURPHY. I am saying that the backlog, we can expect the
backlog to continue to decrease going forward.
Chairman SANDERS. That it is decreasing and that it will continue to decrease?
Mr. MURPHY. The last 45 days it has decreased by over 44,000
cases, excuse me, 44,000 inventory, 74,000 backlog. They are two
different numbers.
Chairman SANDERS. OK. Senator Boozman, did you have some
questions?
Senator BOOZMAN. Yes, sir, I do. If you would like, you can move
to Senator Blumenthal since I gave my opening statement. Go
ahead, sir.
Chairman SANDERS. That is kind of you.
Senator Blumenthal.
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT
Senator BLUMENTHAL. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I

thank you all for being here and thank you for your continued work
on a number of these areas including the claims backlog which is
vexing not only to us but obviously to stakeholders across the country; so I wondered if you could distinguish, you mentioned 74,000
and 44,000. 74,000 is the reduction in?
Mr. MURPHY. Total inventory in the VA.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. And 44,000?
Mr. MURPHY. Claims that are less than 125 days plus claims
that are over 125 days comprise the total inventory. 44,000 is the
reduction in that number.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. And rather than quizzing you now, could
you get us a report in writing with the numbers showing when the
backlog began to decrease, in other words, when the tide turned;
and what your projections are for coming months, let us say until
the end of the year and as far beyond as you can project?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes, I understand what you are looking for, Senator, and I can get you the numbers showing the performance up
to where we are today; and we will have some discussions about
what the future looks like for the rest of the fiscal year.
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Senator BLUMENTHAL. Well, when you say you will have, we
will have some discussions, do you mean you and we members of
the Senate, or internally, we will have?
Mr. MURPHY. We internally delivered to you members of the
Senate.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. OK. Do you have numbers for Connecticut?
Mr. MURPHY. Offhand I do not, not with me today.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. Could you get those numbers to me?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes, Senator, I would be happy to.
[The information requested during the hearing follows:]
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89
Senator BLUMENTHAL. Thank you.
You know, I want to join my colleagues in expressing a sense of
urgency. We said on a number of occasions how important it is to
reduce this backlog, and I know you share the view that the numbers right now are unacceptable. We have heard that from veterans
and you have heard it from us, and I appreciate your cooperation.
Let me ask you about one of the issues that concerns me, the
interoperability of the medical records system or the merger of the
two, DOD and VA. Could you tell us what the status of that effort
is today?
Mr. MURPHY. I can address it from the standpoint of processing
compensation claims and what it is that I need in order to process
claims efficiently and quickly, and that is tied back to the electronic delivery from the Department of Defense to the VA of electronic copies of their service treatment records.
There are two key things that have happened recently. The first
one is the delivery by the Department of Defense of a certified complete record which relieves me of the responsibility to continue to
search for Federal records, as required by the statute.
Since the beginning of Juneit has been about 3 weeks now of
full implementation of Department of Defense97 percent of those
records are being delivered with a certified complete statement on
top. That is great progress forward with us working together with
our DOD partners.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. And of those records that are automatically delivered seamlessly, they are interoperable without being, in
effect, part of the same system. Is that what you are saying?
Mr. MURPHY. I think the answer to that is going to come in the
second part of this, Senator.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. Sorry.
Mr. MURPHY. Today, I will take it in any form DOD can give it
to me as quickly as they are. The DOD has committed that by the
end of the calendar year they will deliver all of their medical
records, certified complete like that, to us in an electronic format.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. By the end of the year, did you say?
Mr. MURPHY. This calendar year.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. This calendar year?
Mr. MURPHY. Yes.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. Sir, I apologize for interrupting. In effect,
DOD has committed to you that by the end of the year 2013 the
two systems will fit together seamlessly and they will become part
of the same system? I am trying to put it in laymans language because I do not know how technically to describe it and I welcome
whatever comment you have.
Mr. MURPHY. Senator, you scare me with the get together
seamlessly portion of that. I will receive that in a format that I
can ingest
Senator BLUMENTHAL. Was that not the goal of Secretary Panetta
Mr. MURPHY. Yes. Absolutely.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. And Secretary Shinseki
Mr. MURPHY. The key is they will give it to me in any format
that I can receive into VBMS electronically, call it up at the raters
desk without additional effort, see those records, search those
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records in a format that is usable to us; and yes, that is the commitment.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. And that is by the end of the year?
Mr. MURPHY. That is by the end of this calendar year, correct.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. Great. Because my time is limited, I am
going to jump to another topic.
I have sponsored a measure called the Veterans Back to School
Act that would, in effect, eliminate the 10-year limit on GI Bill benefits. As you know right now, GI benefits are limited to 10 years
after separation from the service.
In todays economy, 10 years is, in my view, no longer an acceptable limit because people change careers. They need new training.
Veterans may simply be as much in need of these benefits after 10
years as they are 10 years before.
Could I ask you for a position on that measure?
Mr. MURPHY. I think we are in Mr. Coys territory now, Senator.
Mr. COY. Thank you, Senator, for that question. S. 863 essentially, as you indicated, takes away the time limit; and instead of
from separation, it makes it from the time that you start using
those benefits.
We do not yet have cleared positions on that, and so, we are
working through that. Some of this is the devil is in the details,
if you will.
So, we want to make sure we give you a good, complete answer
for the record rather than make the effort to try and do that very
quickly, and we hope to have those cleared views to you very
shortly.
Senator BLUMENTHAL. Thank you.
Chairman SANDERS. Thank you, Senator Blumenthal.
Senator Boozman.
Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Again, I appreciate the fact that it seems like we are getting
good news regarding the claims process. I know you all are working
very, very hard, the entire system, to get that resolved.
As you know, when I visit with veterans and the mail that we
received, that really is the overwhelming concern right now. Not
only with veterans, but the public generally, feel like people that
have served deserve the opportunity in a somewhat timely fashion
at least, to get the answer one way or another so that they can
move on.
So again, I appreciate your efforts and I appreciate the fact that
we seem to be seeing some improvement. That is very positive. So,
we will be able to pass that along.
I would just like to ask you to help me understand a little bit
about the fiduciary issue that has come up and has for a long time.
If VA finds that veterans or other VA beneficiaries need help with
their finances, and you can correct me, but my understanding is
the VA assigns a fiduciary to help them and also sends their names
to be included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check
System or the NICS list. That prevents them from purchasing or
owning firearms. In some cases that might impact the ability of
their families to possess firearms.
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So, I guess the questions I would have is, does VA look at whether a beneficiary is in any way dangerous when assigning the
fiduciary?
Mr. MURPHY. Can I ask a clarifying question there, Senator?
Senator BOOZMAN. Yes.
Mr. MURPHY. Is the fiduciary being appointed dangerous, is that
what you are asking?
Senator BOOZMAN. Yesno, no, the veteran.
Mr. MURPHY. The veteran themselves?
Senator BOOZMAN. Yes.
Mr. MURPHY. The veteran is through the fiduciary process
deemed not capable of managing their own finances; and by virtue
of that, they are added to the NICS database which restricts them
from being able to own and purchase firearms.
Senator BOOZMAN. Is there
Mr. MURPHY. There is also a relief process in place. If a veteran
thinks that they should not be on that list, they can file an appeal
to us. There is an active, ongoing process where appeals are happening, and veterans gun ownership rights are being restored.
Senator BOOZMAN. Is there any correlation with not being able
to manage your finances and committing a violent crime?
Mr. MURPHY. I do not know the answer to that question, Senator.
Senator BOOZMAN. But we should know the answer in the sense
that that is why we are doing it.
Mr. HIPOLIT. If I could address that, there was a determination
made by public safety authorities essentially at the Department of
Justice. When they set up the NICS program, they determined who
would be placed on the list; and one of the categories they chose
was people who were unable to handle their finances, essentially,
which tie the VAs incompetence determinations into that process.
So, because that is how the Justice Department set it up, we are
required to report that information.
Senator BOOZMAN. So, Social Security does the same thing?
Mr. HIPOLIT. They fall within the same requirements I believe.
Senator BOOZMAN. Is that correct?
Mr. HIPOLIT. That is my understanding.
Senator BOOZMAN. Social Security, my understanding was, and
was confirmed, does not send names.
Mr. HIPOLIT. OK. Now, they may not. I think in some cases Social Security appoints fiduciaries without making a determination
of incompetency, and it is our determination of incompetency is
what kicks in the reporting requirements.
Senator BOOZMAN. Could it be a physical disability rather than
a mental impairment that requires the assignment of a fiduciary?
Mr. HIPOLIT. Yes, that is correct. It could be an injury or whatever.
Senator BOOZMAN. So, an individual like that would go on the
NICS list also?
Mr. HIPOLIT. Yes, if they are unable to handle their financial
affairs.
Senator BOOZMAN. But that makes no sense if they have a physical impairment that would not allow them to do that.
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Mr. HIPOLIT. There is a relief program in place that Mr. Murphy
mentioned which, if a person is not a threat to public safety, they
can be relieved from the reporting requirement.
Senator BOOZMAN. No, I understand but it should not be that the
onus is on them when we are putting them in a situation in that
case with a physical impairment, it does not make any sense at all
in regard to their wanting to commit or any correlation with violent
crime in that regard.
Who at VA makes the decisions about whether someone should
have a fiduciary and do they have any law enforcement training or
legal training? Or what is their training?
Mr. MURPHY. There are pension veteran service representatives
that make these determinations and their determinations are
based not from a law enforcement perspective but from the standpoint of is the veteran capable of managing their financial affairs.
Senator BOOZMAN. OK. How many individuals have their names
on the NICS list as a result of the current policy?
Mr. MURPHY. That I do not have a number in front of me. I can
tell you how many have been added to the list and have applied
to be relieved. That number is 236.
Senator BOOZMAN. OK. Have you got a guess as to how many?
Mr. MURPHY. I do not. If you would like that number, I would
be happy to take that for the record and provide you with the detailed numbers.
Senator BOOZMAN. Do you have any idea how many are children?
How many are being added to the NICS list that are children?
Mr. MURPHY. No, I do not, Senator.
Senator BOOZMAN. OK. Elderly dependent parents? That would
be something else we would be interested in.
Again, like I said, to me it makes no sense when you have no
correlation to violent crime that these individualsI understand if
we are picking out people who are mentally impaired and we need
to get much more aggressive in that regard, not only in this situation but with others.
But, somebody that is physically impaired, there are all kinds of
categories that I think we would both agree that there is no correlation at all. So again, please, I would like the answers in writing. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for your indulgence.
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Chairman SANDERS. Thank you, Senator Boozman.

Senator Begich.
Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Actually, I want to follow-up. It was not my intent to follow-up
on your question but I know, Senator Boozman, you and I have
done several pieces of legislation together including this one. I have
a piece of legislation pending with Senator Pryor, Flake, and
Graham on this specific issue because there has been no proven
correlation between financial affairs and someone committing or
could potentially commit an act of violence.
108
There is no evidence, unless you have some; and I get what you
are saying. I feel some uncomfortable conversation coming at me
because you are kind of responding to the Justice Departments decision.
If I can, I would like to get from you whatever the public safety
authority, Justice Department, issued this as an added item, whatever documentation they created this, because there is no
connection.
And, there are many veterans that are denied their Second
Amendment rights because they are unable to manage their financial affairs but they are not violent, they are not potentially violent,
they are not at risk to themselves or others.
And so, could you provide us that? You do not have to answer
this, but I sense some uncomfortable positioning in your responses
to Senator Boozman and I get where this came from, that you are
responding to that.
Mr. HIPOLIT. Yes, Senator, there were Justice Department regulations that set that up and we would be pleased to provide you
with background information on that.
Senator BEGICH. We would like that. Again, our bill is to try to
rectify this problem because it just seems unfair. We have to take
and weigh someones constitutional right, whatever that right is, is
something we need to be very careful about.
At the same time, we need to recognize there are individuals that
are at risk and we need to balance that.
Mr. Murphy, you had some information regarding how many
have been accepted into that system, how many are appealing, and
then also what the timetable is from their initial appeal, or relief
I guess is the word to use. And then what the outcome of that was.
Would you mind giving us something on that also?
Mr. MURPHY. We would be happy to, Senator.
RESPONSE
TO
REQUEST ARISING DURING THE HEARING BY HON. MARK BEGICH

TO
Response. As of April 17, 2013, the cumulative total of VA incompetent beneficiaries is 143,580. A demographic breakdown is shown below:
Veterans ...................................
Surviving Spouses ...................
Helpless Adult Children ...........
Minor Children .........................
Dependent Parents ..................
Other Adults .............................
83,764
42,636
14,291
2,733
86
70
TOTAL ...................................
143,580
Senator Begich asked for data on the special NICS appeals process: how many
have asked for a review, the time it takes for the appeal process, and the number
of requests for relief granted/denied/not yet decided.
Response. Please note that NICS relief is not an appeal, it is a separate process.
As of April 17, 2013, VA received 236 requests for relief from the NICS reporting
requirements. Breakdown is as follows:
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Granted ....................................
Denied ......................................
Pending ....................................
Competency Restored ..............
7
153
53
23
TOTAL ...................................
236
Senator BEGICH. OK. Thank you.

Let me move on to another subject matter. Again actually Senator Boozman and I have a bill entitled Putting Veterans Funding
First Act, S. 932. We gave advance appropriations for part of the
VA but not all of it, so this bill would complete fully giving advanced appropriations to the VA.
Tell me what you think of this and would you be supportive of
this legislation. Again, it just seems logical from a standpoint of
saving money, saving time, and creating opportunity for the VA to
do their work rather than processing paper all the time.
Who would like to?
Mr. COY. I will take that, Senator.
Unfortunately, the short answer is we are still putting together
our cleared views on this.
Senator BEGICH. Can I interrupt you for just 1 second.
Mr. COY. Yes.
Senator BEGICH. And I do not mean to be negative, only because
of our time here. But, are you putting that together? Is OMB influencing that outcome of what you are putting together?
The reason I ask is that OMB will always sanitize the heck out
of everything. So, I am looking for what you all think as the department that has to run an agency of the magnitude that you
have to run.
So, you do not have to answer. I do not mean to beI just get
frustrated with OMB sanitizing everything before coming in front
of a Committee.
Mr. COY. I will take your advice and not insert that, Sir.
[Laughter.]
Senator BEGICH. OK. Your answer is an answer but go ahead. I
did not mean to
Mr. COY. We have seen where it has been very useful for our colleagues at VHA.
Senator BEGICH. Right.
Mr. COY. But again we do not have our cleared position to put
forth yet.
Senator BEGICH. Understood. OK.
Mr. COY. We are looking at it very vigorously and it is within VA
at this point to put together those cleared views.
Senator BEGICH. Fantastic. I would look forward and maybe we
can ask the other side of VA at one point what they saw as their
savings and opportunity. That might help us convince, and I say
us, meaning OMB to think about the right decision here.
Mr. COY. Aye, aye.
Senator BEGICH. Ill leave it at that.
Let me go on to one last quick thing. There is a bill that I cosponsored with Senator Burr but I do not see it, though I may be
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wrong. You did not supply a view on it, which is about issuing
cards to veterans that identify themselves as veterans so then they
can benefit from community benefits that are available.
It would not be used to determine theirit would not be used to
go into the VA as it were but it would be their card to say, I am
a veteran and therefore I might get certain benefits out in the
community.
You did not have a view on that. So, I am wondering if you are
reviewing that or you are just going to keep neutral on it or help
me out there.
Mr. COY. Right now, again my short answer is we do not have
cleared views on that yet.
Senator BEGICH. OK.
Mr. COY. What we have seen is about 50 percent of the States
now have a drivers license where they have identified veterans on
there as well.
Senator BEGICH. Right.
Mr. COY. And we have seen that as a pretty useful tool. We are
also looking at a number of things through our eBenefits portal
where veterans can quickly get the information necessary to identify them as a veteran.
But with respect to physically issuing ID cards, we are putting
together those costs and views to be able to figure out what our official position is on that and we will get that to you, sir, as soon
as we can.
Senator BEGICH. Very good. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman for the time.
Chairman SANDERS. Thank you, Senator Begich.
We are going to hear from the VSOs in 1 second but before we
do I want to go back to Mr. Murphy because you are dealing with
what is the most contentious issue facing the VA right now.
What I want you to do in a very brief period of time is to tell
this Committee how we got to where we are today in terms of the
backlog, what the VA is doing to transform the system, where you
think we are today, and where we are going to be by the end of
2015. You got all of a minute to do that.
Mr. MURPHY. A minute. Well, let us start at the end. The Secretary has put out a rather aggressive goal: 2015; 98 percent; 125
days. You asked me previously are we going to hit that goal. The
answer is yes.
Chairman SANDERS. So, let me stop here. What you are saying
again for the public record is that you believe by the end of 2015
every benefit filed by a veteran will be processed within 125 days
with 98 percent accuracy.
Am I hearing you correctly?
Mr. MURPHY. You are hearing me correctly.
Chairman SANDERS. OK.
Mr. MURPHY. It gives me chills. It is a very aggressive goal.
Chairman SANDERS. It is an aggressive goal.
Mr. MURPHY. But, I honestly believe we are going to hit that
number and I am not saying that as an uneducated individual. You
are asking me what are the things that we are doing, and you have
heard Under Secretary Hickey many times talk about people processing technology.
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That truly is the thing that all together are going to solve this.
There is no single system that is going to come in that is going to
be a silver bullet, VBMS, and make everything work. VBMS if left
alone without other changes will just make a bad system worse.
So, there are other things that have to go on here in terms of
training, education, the quality of hiring, the processes that we are
doing, the legislative proposals that you are bringing before us now
and have done so over the last couple of years are bearing fruit and
helping us develop this as well.
You asked how did we get here? We are at the end of in excess
of 10 years of war and still going. There is a very large number
of veterans returning from conflict and they are filing claims when
they do. These veterans have had injuries and conditions and it is
having its effect on VA.
If you look at the number of claims that we are getting, you look
at not just the number of claims but the complexity and the number of issues that are in those claims, just to say that we have got
25, 50, 100 percent more claims does not begin to address the
workload that has really increased.
A claim that formerly came in with three contentions it is now
coming in with 12 to 15. That is three to four to five times the
work to complete that same claim. But, we have not seen the same
level of increase in resources in terms of personnel in order to do
that.
On top of that, there are presumptive conditions that were right
decisions on the part of the Secretary that were put in place to
take care of veterans from previous conflicts.
Chairman SANDERS. Agent Orange.
Mr. MURPHY. Agent Orange, specifically. There is a peripheral
neuropathy presumption that we are going to see here shortly. Several other areas in there that have been right decisions, right
things to do for veterans that did not stop us from making those
decisions and we are seeing the consequences of those today.
On the other side of that, we are at a turning point where we
are starting to see the work go the opposite direction in terms of
volume and the work coming through the door faster than the
number of resources that we have.
When you take all of those and put them in place, I think that
adds to success at the end of 2015.
Chairman SANDERS. OK. Thanks very much.
Gentlemen, thank you very, very much.
Now, we would like to hear from the veterans service organizations.
[Pause.]
I want to thank the service organizations, all of them, including
those that are not here this morning for the help that they have
given us in trying to assess the problems they have seen in the veterans community as well as their very specific thoughts on legislation and how we can address some of those problems.
We are delighted this morning to have with us Jeffrey Hall, who
is the Assistant National Legislative Director for the Disabled
American Veterans.
Ian de Planque, who is the Deputy Legislative Director for The
American Legion.
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Colonel Robert F. Norton, who is the Deputy Director, Government Relations, Military Officers Association of America.
And, Ryan Gallucci, who is the Deputy Director, National Legislative Service for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
We thank you all for being here this morning.
Mr. Hall.
STATEMENT OF JEFFREY HALL, ASSISTANT NATIONAL
LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS
Mr. HALL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning to you and
Members of the Committee.
On behalf of the DAV and our membership of 1.2 million wartime service-disabled veterans, we appreciate the opportunity to
offer our views regarding the legislation being considered by this
Committee. My full written statement has been submitted for the
record so I will limit my oral remarks today to only just a few of
those bills.
Mr. Chairman, as you and the Members of the Committee are
well aware, the VA is currently in the process of comprehensively
transforming its claims processing system to address the unacceptably large backlog of claims.
DAV has and will continue to urge that the focus of all claims
process reform efforts be centered on quality and accuracy to ensure that every veterans claim is done right the first time.
Regarding S. 928, the Claims Processing Improvement Act of
2013, it contains numerous provisions to help reform the current
system but I am just going to highlight a few seconds here.
With respect to Section 101, DAV has long supported calls for
scientifically studying how VBA determines its resource needs
which must be based on a true measure of how much work can be
done accurately by its employees.
While we support the general intent of the working group proposed by this section, we offer the following recommendations, Mr.
Chairman.
First, the working group must expand its focus beyond just a
work credit system to developing a data driven model for determining VBAs total resource needs now and into the future.
Second, the working group should not study the VBAs work
management system at a time when VBA is in the middle of changing it. Doing so would be premature in light of the VBAs new organizational model and the VBMS system being implemented.
We suggest waiting until a time after the new system has been
working and in place for a while in order to determine whether
these changes are or will be successful.
Finally, because Section 101 mandates that the Secretary shall
implement the recommendations of this working group, DAV is
concerned about the lack of details on the membership of the working group, operating rules of the group, how decisions will be made
and votes taken, and how recommendations will be presented by
the working group.
Section 201 would reduce the filing period of a notice of disagreement from the current 1-year period to 180 days from the date of
the decision. The DAV is opposed to this measure as we do not see
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any positive effect resulting from this change toward the backlog
of claims.
DAV supports Section 202 to improve the appeals process by allowing the Board of Veterans Appeals to use videoconferencing
hearings as a default hearing while allowing the claimant to retain
the absolute right to appear in person before the board.
We do, however, recommend that this is clearly explained and
outlined in the notice of appeal rights and appeals form which the
veteran receives.
Regarding S. 819, the Veterans Mental Health Treatment First
Act of 2013, this creates a new early intervention and treatment
program for veterans suffering from PTSD, depression, anxiety disorder, or related substance abuse disorder.
The DAV strongly supports early intervention and mental health
treatment, prevention of chronic disability, and promotion of recovery. Likewise, we are generally supportive of providing financial
support such as a wellness stipend to veterans who are willing to
commit to this program of treatment as it would provide a means
of income while undergoing treatment itself.
However, we cannot support the bill in its current form because
it constrains disabled veterans from applying for service-connected
disability compensation or an increased rating for these covered
conditions simply in order to gain the full amount of the wellness
stipend.
We believe that early treatment provisions and wellness stipend
payments must be decoupled from any proposal which would have
any adverse impact on a veteran applying for disability compensation or claim for an increased rating.
Furthermore, such programs should begin as a pilot program to
help determine the level of interest and whether or not it is likely
to achieve its intended purpose. However, we would be pleased to
work with the Committee to possibly find a workable solution on
this matter.
DAV strongly supports S. 893, the Veterans Compensation Cost
of Living Adjustment Act of 2013, to increase compensation and
DIC rates effective December 1 of 2013.
Mr. Chairman, the DAV applauds you and Ranking Member
Burr for not mandating that the COLA be rounded down to the
next low whole dollar amount. DAV has a long-standing resolution
to discontinue this unfair practice and we are very pleased that it
was not included in the bill.
The DAV also applauds you, Mr. Chairman, for your stalwart
leadership and efforts opposing the chained consumer price index,
which we, too, oppose.
Finally, the DAV strongly supports S. 932, the Putting Veterans
Funding First Act of 2013. In the same way that advance appropriations for VA health care have helped insulate and protect VHA
from the disruptive budget fights each year, we believe that expanding advance appropriations to the VAs remaining discretionary programs, including VBA, could have similar positive affects on helping to address the backlog of pending claims.
Mr. Chairman, the DAV thanks the Committee for their tireless
efforts toward improving the lives of service-disabled veterans and
their families.
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This concludes my remarks. I will be happy to answer any
questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hall follows:]
STATEMENT
OF
JEFFREY C. HALL, ASSISTANT NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR,

DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS (DAV)
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for inviting the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) to testify at this legislative hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. As you know, DAV is
a non-profit veterans service organization comprised of 1.2 million wartime servicedisabled veterans dedicated to a single purpose: empowering veterans to lead highquality lives with respect and dignity. DAV is pleased to be here today to present
our views on the bills under consideration by the Committee.
S. 6
S. 6, the Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2013, would reauthorize the
VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, to provide assistance to small businesses owned
by veterans, to improve enforcement of employment and reemployment rights of
members of uniformed services. This legislation would expand the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 by reauthorizing the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program
(VRAP) allowing an additional 100,000 participants through April 2016.
Other matters highlighted in S. 6 include extending through December 2016, the
allowance for VA vocational rehabilitation & employment services to members of the
Armed Forces with severe injuries or illnesses, and would also extend through
March 2016, additional rehabilitation programs for those who have exhausted rights
to unemployment benefits under state law, as well as the creation of a unified webbased employment portal identifying Federal employment, unemployment and training. S. 6 would also afford grants to the Department of Homeland Security and the
Attorney General for the purpose of hiring firefighters and law enforcement officers.
Finally, this legislation would require employment of veterans as an evaluation
factor in solicitations for contracts by certain prospective contractors, while also improving employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed services
with respect to states and private employers and suspension, termination, or debarment of contractors for repeated violations of such rights.
In accordance with several DAV resolutions, we support enactment of this comprehensive legislation as it would improve the employment, training, and rights of
service-disabled veterans and improve their transition from military service into civilian employment.
S. 200
S. 200 would amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the interment in
national cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration of
individuals who served in combat support of the Armed Forces in the Kingdom of
Laos between February 28, 1961, and May 15, 1975.
DAV has no resolution or position on this matter.
S. 257
S. 257, the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013, would require courses of education provided by public institutions of higher education that are approved for purposes of the educational assistance programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to charge veterans tuition and fees at the in-state tuition rate.
S. 262
S. 262, the Veterans Education Equity Act of 2013, would provide equity for tuition and fees for individuals entitled to educational assistance under the Post-9/11
Educational Assistance Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) who
are pursuing programs of education at the institutions of higher learning.
S. 294
S. 294, the Ruth Moore Act of 2013, would improve the disability compensation
evaluation procedure of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans with mental
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health conditions related to military sexual trauma. In accordance with DAV Resolution Nos. 030 and 204, we support enactment of this legislation.
This bill would change the standard of proof required to establish service connection for veterans suffering from certain mental health conditions, including Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), resulting from military sexual trauma that occurred in service.
In November 2010, VA modified its prior standard of proof for PTSD related to
combat veterans by relaxing the evidentiary standards for establishing in-service
stressors if related to a veterans fear of hostile military or terroristic activity.
Under this change, VA is now able to award entitlement to service connection for
PTSD even when there is no official record of such incurrence or aggravation in
service, provided there is a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD coupled with the veterans
written testimony that the PTSD is the result of an incident that occurred during
military service, and a medical opinion supporting a nexus between the two.
S. 294 would buildupon that same concept and allow VA to award entitlement to
service connection for certain mental health conditions, including PTSD, anxiety and
depression, or other mental health diagnosis described in the current version of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM), which a veteran
claims was incurred or aggravated by military sexual trauma experienced in service,
even in the absence of any official record of the claimed trauma. Similar to the evidentiary standard above for PTSD, the veteran must have a diagnosis of the covered
mental health condition together with satisfactory lay or other evidence of such
trauma and an opinion by the mental health professional that such covered mental
health condition is related to such military sexual trauma, if consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of such service even in the absence of official
record of such incurrence or aggravation in such service and if so all reasonable
doubt will be resolved in favor of the claimant.
DAV Resolution No. 204 states that, [e]stablishing a causal relationship between
injury and later disability can be daunting due to lack of records or certain human
factors that obscure or prevent documentation of even basic investigation of such incidents after they occur * * * and that, [a]n absence of documentation of military
sexual trauma in the personnel or military unit records of injured individuals prevents or obstructs adjudication of claims for disabilities for this deserving group of
veterans injured during their service, and may prevent their care by VA once they
become veterans * * *. Further, DAV Resolution No. 030 states that, [p]roof of
a causal relationship may often be difficult or impossible * * * and that,
* * * current law equitably alleviates the onerous burden of establishing performance of duty or other causal connection as a prerequisite for service
connection * * *.
Correspondingly, in accordance with DAV Resolution Nos. 030 and 204, we
support enactment of S. 294 as it would provide a more equitable standard of proof
for service-disabled veterans who suffer from serious mental and physical traumas
in environments that make it difficult to establish exact causal connections.
We would also note that the House Veterans Affairs Committee recently adopted
an amendment to a companion bill that replaced the language of this legislation
with a Sense of Congress resolution, thereby significantly weakening the intent of
this legislation. We would urge this Committee to retain the statutory language in
S. 294 as it moves through the legislative process.
S. 373
S. 373, the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2013, would
amend titles 10, 32, 37, and 38 of the United States Code, to add a definition of
spouse for purposes of military personnel policies and military and veteran benefits
that recognizes new state definitions of spouse.
S. 430
S. 430, the Veterans Small Business Opportunity and Protection Act of 2013,
would amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance treatment of certain small
business concerns for purposes of VA contracting goals and preferences. Specifically,
this bill would improve the treatment of a service-disabled veteran-owned small
business (SDVOSB) after the death of the disabled veteran. Current law allows 10
years to transfer a SDVOSB from a surviving spouse if the disabled veteran was
rated 100 percent at time of death or who died as a result of a service-connected
condition. This measure would allow for a transition period of three years for veterans rated less than 100 percent at time of death or whose death is not a result
of a service-connected condition.
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In accordance with DAV Resolution No. 168, we support enactment of this legislation.
S. 492
S. 492 would amend title 38, United States Code, to require states to recognize
the military experience of veterans when issuing licenses and credentials to veterans. Essentially this measure would improve employment for veterans by removing particular restrictions or unnecessary requirements for certain veterans. Specifically, as a condition of a grant or contract under which funds are made available
to a state, the state must establish a program for a state-administered examination
for each veteran seeking a license or credential issued by such state.
Additionally, the state will issue a license or credential to such veteran without
requiring training or apprenticeship, provided the veteran receives a satisfactory examination score and has 10 years or more of experience in a military occupational
specialty that, as determined by a state, is similar to a civilian occupation for which
such license or credential is required by the state.
In accordance with DAV Resolution No. 194, we support enactment of S. 492 as
it would improve transition from military service and the employment of service-disabled veterans.
S. 495
S. 495, the Careers for Veterans Act of 2013, would amend title 38, United States
Code, to require Federal agencies to hire veterans and require states to recognize
the military experience of veterans when issuing licenses and credentials to
veterans.
This legislation is supported by a number of DAV resolutions; accordingly, DAV
supports enactment of this measure.
S. 514
S. 514 would amend title 38, United States Code, to provide additional educational assistance under Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to veterans pursuing a
degree in science, technology, engineering, math, or an area that leads to employment in a high-demand occupation.
S. 515
S. 515 would amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the Yellow Ribbon G.I.
Education Enhancement Program to cover recipients of Marine Gunnery Sergeant
John David Fry scholarship.
S. 572
S. 572, the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, would clarify the conditions under which certain persons may be treated as adjudicated mentally incompetent for certain purposes.
S. 629
S. 629, the Honor Americas Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2013, would amend
title 38, United States Code, to recognize the service in the reserve components of
the Armed Forces of certain persons by honoring them with the status only as veterans under law.
S. 674
S. 674, the Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013, would require prompt responses from the heads of covered Federal agencies when the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs requests information necessary to adjudicate claims for benefits under laws
administered by the Secretary. Specifically, this legislation would require the Department of Defense (DOD), Social Security Administration (SSA), and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), to respond to VAs request for information not later than 30 days from such request by providing the requested information or an explanation why the requested information could not be provided within
the 30-day time period, and an estimate as to when the requested information will
be furnished. If the VAs request for information has not been satisfied, additional
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requests shall be made in the same manner as the initial request and the claimant
will be notified.
When a claim is submitted to VA, the largest delay in the overall process resides
within the development stage and usually involves VA not receiving requested information from private and Federal sources, which is necessary for VA to properly adjudicate a claim for benefits. While unanswered requests from private sources, such
as treating physicians, are unacceptably burdensome, it is even more troublesome
when requests for information go unanswered by the Federal Government. When
this occurs, the claim spends months, even years, in a vortex of delay in processing
and providing earned benefits to veterans and their families. When a covered agency
is the custodial source of the information requested by VA then that agency is responsible to promptly furnish the information or a reasonable explanation as to why
the information cannot be furnished. It is simply unconscionable that veterans and
their families wait as long as they do for an answer to their claim, but to have this
compounded by complacency or blatant disregard by a covered agency to furnish the
requested information in a timely manner is beyond reproach.
While this legislation may not solve this problem in every case, DAV agrees with
the purpose of S. 674, which is to hold DOD, SSA and NARA accountable in furnishing the information requested by VA so a claim for benefits can be properly adjudicated in a timely manner.
For the foregoing reasons and in accordance with DAV Resolution No. 205, we
support the enactment of S. 674 as it would improve the VA claims process for service-disabled veterans.
S. 690
S. 690, the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2013, would amend title 38, Untied
States Code, to deem certain service in the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have
been active service for the purpose of obtaining benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
S. 695
S. 695, the Veterans Paralympic Act of 2013, would amend title 38, United States
Code, to extend the authorization of appropriations for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly assistance allowance to disabled veterans who are training
or competing for the Paralympic Team and authorization of appropriations for the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide assistance to United States Paralympics,
Inc.
While DAV does not have a resolution specific to this issue, we do support the
intent of the legislation as it empowers disabled veterans to live high quality lives
with respect and dignity.
S. 705
S. 705, the War Memorial Protection Act of 2013, would amend title 36, United
States Code to ensure that memorials commemorating the service of the United
States Armed Forces may contain religious symbols.
S. 735
S. 735, the Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013, would amend title 38,
United States Code, to improve benefits and assistance provided to surviving
spouses of veterans under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
DAV supports Section 2 of the bill, which would extend from two years to five years,
for the initial period for increased DIC for surviving spouses with children. DAV
also supports Section 3 of the bill as it would expand the eligibility to DIC, health
care, and housing loans for surviving spouses by lowering the age from 57 to 55 for
those spouses who remarry.
Section 4 of the bill would allow benefits for children of certain Thailand service
veterans born with spina bifida in the same manner as children of Vietnam service
veterans who were exposed to an herbicide agent. DAV has no resolution or position
regarding this matter.
Finally, Section 5 of S. 735 would initiate a pilot program to provide grief counseling in retreat settings for surviving spouses of veterans who die while serving on
active duty in the United States Armed Forces. DAV supports the principle of Sec-
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tion 5 of the bill as it would provide support and counseling to grieving spouses and
children who are coping with the death and loss of the veteran.
S. 748
S. 748, the Veterans Pension Protection Act, would amend title 38, United States
Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to consider the resources of individuals applying for nonservice-related pension that were recently disposed of by the
individuals for less than fair market value when determining the eligibility of such
individuals for such nonservice-related pension.
S. 778
S. 778 would authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to issue cards to veterans that identify them as veterans, including name and photo, whether or not the
veteran is enrolled the VA health care system or in receipt of benefits such as education, compensation or non-service related pension.
While DAV has no resolution or position on this matter we recommend this be
a collaborative effort between the two principle agencies; DOD issuing this type of
identification card to those eligible at time of discharge, and VA issuing this type
of identification card to those already separated from military service.
S. 819
S. 819, the Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act of 2013, creates a new
program for provision of mental health care and rehabilitation for veterans suffering
from service-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety
disorder, or a related substance abuse disorder. DAV supports the provisions of this
bill that promote early intervention in mental health treatment, prevention of
chronic disability, and promotion of recovery. However, we cannot support the bill
in its current form because it restricts the rights of disabled veterans to apply for
service-connected disability compensation for those disabilities under VA care. We
believe that early treatment provisions and wellness stipend payments must be decoupled from any proposal to deny veterans the ability to apply for disability compensation during the treatment phase.
S. 819 would establish a new approach to dealing with veterans who are diagnosed with PTSD, depression, anxiety disorder or substance abuse disorder that, in
the judgment of a VA physician, is related to military service. Financial support,
known as a wellness stipend, would be provided to veterans who are willing to
commit to a VA treatment plan with substantial adherence to that plan for a specified period of care. In order to be eligible for the wellness stipend, the veteran would
be required to agree not to file a VA disability compensation claim for the covered
conditions for one year or the duration of the treatment program, whichever time
period would be shorter. Duration of treatment would be individualized and determined by the attending VA clinician. Under the program, there would be two proposed levels of wellness stipends. Receipt of the full wellness stipend would depend
on the veteran having no service-related rating for PTSD, depression, anxiety disorder, or related substance abuse, and having no claim pending for one of the conditions mentioned.
Veterans with no service-connected rating or claim pending for the conditions
mentioned who agreed not to file a new or an increased disability claim for one of
the conditions and in addition agreed to substantial compliance with a prescribed
treatment plan for those conditions for the duration of the prescribed program (or
12 months, whichever is sooner), would receive $2,000 immediately payable upon diagnosis; $1,500 payable every 90 days while in the treatment program upon clinician certification of substantial compliance with the treatment regimen; and $3,000
payable at the conclusion of the time-limited treatment program. Under this proposal, the gross stipend for these veterans would be $11,000.
This bill also would propose that any veteran, with a new or increased disability
claim pending for PTSD, depression, anxiety disorder or related substance abuse,
would receive only a partial wellness payment at identical intervals but totaling
only up to 33% of the rates discussed above. Any participating veteran who failed
to comply with the conditions of the program would be removed from the program,
resulting in cessation of the stipends. The program would limit a veterans participation to a single enrollment unless VA determined that extended participation
would provide the veteran additional assistance in recovery.
As we have stated, we support efforts to increase early intervention in order to
increase the chances for recovery. Multiple independent reports and scientific studies provide ample evidence for pursuing early intervention for PTSD and other serv-
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ice-related mental health problems, for promoting recovery, and for providing adequate financial support so that veterans have the resources to engage fully in necessary treatment. Participation in treatment and counseling is often an intensive
and time consuming process and so financial stipends, such as those proposed by
this bill, would give veterans at least a modicum of support to concentrate on participating as full partners in their therapy.
However, DAV strongly opposes any provision that attempts to link wellness stipend payments to a veterans right to file a disability claim. While progression in
science has enhanced our ability to recognize and treat the mental health consequences of service in combat including PTSD, the treatments are not universally
effective. PTSD and major depression tend to remit and recur. There is no justification for the view that participation in evidence-based therapy will eradicate the illness or eliminate the need for a claim for disability.
In addition to the above concerns, we recognize the challenges that VA faces in
establishing the administrative systems and management of mental health treatment programs. In order to increase the chances for success, DAV recommends that
VA incorporate the following components into any new early intervention mental
health treatment program design:
VHA has struggled to provide timely access to mental health services to all veterans seeking care. In order to carry out any new programs, such as those outlined
in this bill, while continuing to meet current demand for mental health services, VA
will need to recruit and retain additional highly skilled, dedicated mental health
providers.
Every veteran enrolled in such programs should be assigned to a care manager
to coordinate care and jointly track personal treatment and recovery plans.
VA mental health providers should receive ongoing continuing medical education, intensive training and clinical supervision to ensure that they have the skills
and capability to deliver the latest evidence-based treatments.
VA should offer certifications to professionals for PTSD treatment, competency
in veterans occupational health, and cultural competency in veterans and military
life.
Most of the military members who serve in combat will return home without injuries and readjust in a manner that promotes good health. However, it is the responsibility of our Nation to treat veterans who return with war wounds, both visible
and invisible, and to fully support their mental health recoveries. Moreover, we believe that while wellness stipend payments could facilitate their recovery, they are
not an adequate or acceptable substitute for fair and equitable disability compensation for service-related conditions.
In summary, DAV supports the provisions of this bill that promote early intervention in mental health treatment, prevention of chronic disability, and promotion of
recovery. However, we cannot support the bill in its current form because it restricts
the rights of disabled veterans to apply for service-connected disability compensation. We suggest that the health care provisions and wellness stipend payments be
decoupled from the proposal to deny veterans the ability to apply for disability compensation during the treatment phase.
While DAV cannot offer our full support to S. 819, we would be happy to work
with the Committee to see if there are additional ways to create incentives for veterans to seek early treatment for mental health conditions without forcing them to
surrender their earned right to seek other VA benefits.
S. 863
S. 863, the Veterans Back to School Act of 2013, would amend title 38, United
States Code, to repeal time limitations on the eligibility for use of educational assistance under All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program and to improve
veterans education outreach.
S. 868
S. 868 would require the Secretary of Defense to establish a process to determine

II are eligible for certain benefits despite not being on the Missouri List.
S. 889
S. 889 would amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) of the DOD. Specifically, this legislation would expand the
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current TAP for those who plan to use educational assistance by codifying the instruction and overview of such educational assistance, testing to determine academic readiness, instruction on how to finance post-secondary education, and instruction in the benefits and other programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
In light of the difficulty faced by many transitioning servicemembers, especially
those with service-related disabilities, S. 889 will provide certain expansion and improvement to the current TAP program within each respective branch of the military. Allowing these individuals the maximum assistance in obtaining their benefits,
education, and employment as they exit military service is absolutely imperative.
In accordance with DAV Resolution No. 199, we support the enactment of S. 889.
S. 893
S. 893, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013, would

provide for an increase, effective December 1, 2013, in the rates of compensation for
veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) for the survivors of certain disabled veterans.
Although a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) was passed last year at the modest
increase of 1.7%, each of the prior two years, there was no increase in the rates for
compensation and DIC because the Social Security index used to measure the COLA
did not increase. Many disabled veterans and their families rely heavily or solely
on VA disability compensation or DIC as their only means of financial support and
have struggled during these difficult times. While the economy has faltered, their
personal economic circumstances have been negatively affected by rising costs of
many essential items, including food, medicines and gasoline. As inflation becomes
a greater factor, it is imperative that veterans and their dependents receive a COLA
and DAV supports enactment of this legislation.
Mr. Chairman, DAV applauds you and Ranking Member Burr for not mandating
that the COLA be rounded down to the next lowest whole dollar amount. DAV has
a longstanding resolution to discontinue this unfair practice. The round down
practice was initially enacted to be a temporary cost savings measure, but has now
been in effect for nearly 20 years. This temporary cost saving measure has resulted
in the loss of millions of dollars to veterans and their families since its inception
and long overdue to be discontinued. As such DAV thanks you for your forward
thinking to remove the round down provision.
DAV also applauds your leadership and efforts with respect to opposing the
chained consumer price index (CPI). DAV joins your opposition to this or any similar attempt at progressively eroding annual COLAs by replacing the current CPI
formula used for calculating the annual Social Security COLA with the Bureau of
Labor Statistics new formula, commonly termed the chained CPI. The conversion
to using the chained CPI is intended to significantly reduce the rates paid to Social Security recipients in the future, thereby lowering the overall Federal deficit,
which would come at great cost to disabled veterans; a group, as you know, that
has already demonstrated great sacrifice to this Nation. Balancing the budget on
the backs of disabled veterans is simply unacceptable and we thank you for your
stalwart opposition the chained CPI.
S. 894
S. 894 would amend title 38, United States Code, to extend expiring authority for
work-study allowances for individuals who are pursuing programs of rehabilitation,
education, or training under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
and to expand such authority to certain outreach services provided through congressional offices.
DAV has no specific resolution on this matter; however, the purpose of this legislation is to provide economic assistance to veterans and disabled veterans in VA programs. DAV supports the principle intent of the bill, because it would help empower
disabled veterans.
S. 922
S. 922, the Veterans Equipped for Success During Transition Act of 2013, would
provide in-state tuition to transitioning veterans. Essentially this legislation would
create a pilot program to provide subsidies to employers of certain veterans and
members of the Armed Forces, as well as a pilot program to provide career transition services to veterans.
Employment for service-disabled veterans is a priority for DAV and we support
the principle of the legislation, which is to improve transition from military service
by encouraging employers to hire veterans. We are, however, unclear why Section
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2 of the bill excludes veterans between the ages of 35 and 54, and why Section 3
of the bill excludes veterans over the age of 30. Finding employment can be extremely difficult for veterans following military service, and even more challenging
for veterans with service-related disabilities. Limiting these pilot programs to veterans of a particular age would increase the already difficult employment process
for service-disabled veterans. While DAV supports the principle of this legislation,
we believe S. 922 should be expanded to include all veterans, regardless of age, and
should include more incentives for hiring disabled veterans.
S. 927
S. 927, the Veterans Outreach Act of 2013, would authorize a demonstration

project to assess the feasibility and advisability of improving VAs outreach efforts
by awarding grants to state and local government agencies, as well as private nonprofit organizations. The purpose of these demonstration grants would be to measure whether such partnerships are successful and should be continued and expanded in order to increase veterans awareness of the benefits and services that VA
offers to them, their families and survivors.
Mr. Chairman, like you, DAV is strongly committed to educating veterans about
all of the services, benefits and programs provided by the Federal Government as
a result of their service. Working through a core of more than 300 National Service
Officers and Transition Service Officers, DAV reaches out to hundreds of thousands
of veterans every year in order to educate and assist them in availing themselves
of their earned benefits. Dozens of other veterans services organizations are also engaged in continual outreach to veterans across the country.
In addition, DAV strongly supports chapter 63 of title 38, United States Code,
which currently requires VA to engage in outreach activities and to report on them
to Congress on a regular basis. We are also aware of the efforts that states and local
government agencies have undertaken, particularly in recent years, to ensure that
veterans are aware of the full range of benefits and services available to them and
their families.
However, although S. 927 would authorize new grants from VA to states, local
governments and nonprofits, the legislation does not specifically authorize any additional funding for these purposes, nor does it require that additional appropriations
be provided to fund such grants. As such, funding for such outreach activities might
have to be taken from existing health care or benefit programs, both of which are
already hard pressed to meet current demand. Too often new programs are funded
by taking resources away from existing health care programs serving veterans, especially disabled veterans, and we would not be supportive of expanding outreach programs at the expense of existing programs for disabled veterans.
Further, in conducting any such demonstration projects or any similar studies
about expanded outreach, VA must carefully examine the additional costs that
would accrue as a result of such outreach. A critical part of any such studies must
be the cost of providing additional services and benefits to those veterans, family
members and survivors who are brought into VA as a result of expanded outreach
activities. DAV would not be supportive of an outreach program if it resulted in existing services and benefits being reduced for current recipients in order to provide
benefits and services to new veterans, particularly if resources were cut for disabled
veterans. Congress must ensure that any new outreach activities of the VA have
sufficient funding, not just for the outreach activities themselves, but also for the
resultant increased cost of veterans benefits and services by the those veterans who
would be brought into the VA system.
Mr. Chairman, DAV believes the Federal Government has a moral obligation to
provide veterans, their families and survivors with all of the benefits and services
they have earned through their sacrifice to this Nation, and that includes an obligation to make them aware of these benefits and services. But without a guarantee
of sufficient funding, expanded outreach would end up being a hollow promise and
could result in a decrease of benefits and services to those veterans who currently
rely on VA.
S. 928
S. 928, the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013, contains numerous provisions intended to improve the processing of claims for disability compensation under
laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. As this Committee is well
aware, VA is currently in the process of comprehensively transforming its claims
processing system in order to address the unacceptably large backlog of pending
claims. DAV has and will continue to urge that the focus of all claims process re-
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form efforts must be first and foremost on quality and accuracy in order to ensure
that every veterans claim is done right the first time.
Section 101 of the bill would establish a working group to study and make recommendations to improve the employee work credit and work management systems of
the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). DAV has long supported calls for scientifically studying how VBA determines its resource needs, which must be based
on an accurate measure of how much work can be done accurately by its employees.
While we support the general intent of the working group proposed by this Section,
we would make several recommendations to better focus the efforts in the context
of the current transformation.
First, we believe that the focus of the working group should be on developing a
scientific, data-driven model for determining the resources needed to accurately
process the volume of work now and in the future, as well as how to allocate those
resources amongst VBAs regional offices. The core of this resource needs model
must be an accurate determination of how much work VBA employees can accurately produce at each position and experience level. Importantly, this model must
be sufficiently dynamic to quickly adjust to changes in the laws and regulations governing disability compensation.
Second, we would recommend that the working group not study VBAs work management system at this time. As this Committee is aware, VBA has just completed
implementing a brand new organization model for processing claims, and has not
yet completed rolling out its new Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS)
to all regional offices, both of which make comprehensive changes to VBAs work
management systems. As such, it would be premature to study whether or not these
new systems are or will be successful, much less recommend comprehensive changes
to them, for the next couple of years.
Finally, the language of Section 101 mandates that the Secretary shall implement the recommendations of this working group. As such it is imperative that the
membership and operating rules of the working group are clearly delineated, including the total number of voting members, how decisions are made and votes taken,
and how recommendations will be presented.
Section 102 of the bill would establish a task force on the retention and training
of VBA claims processors and adjudicators. DAV has been a longtime advocate for
improvements to be made in the training of VBA employees in order to improve
quality and accuracy. As such, DAV supports enactment of this section of the bill.
Section 103 would streamline the requests for Federal records other than VA
records. DAV agrees that the VA is burdened greatly in the development stage of
a claim by not being able to retrieve records, or receive them in a timely manner,
especially from a Federal agency. An even greater burden is shouldered by the veteran claimant who must endure unacceptable delay in processing the claim or a denial simply because the records werent provided to VA at its request.
As part of VAs duty to assist a claimant in obtaining evidence necessary to substantiate a claim, title 38, United States Code, section 5103A states the Secretary
will make reasonable efforts to do so, including private records. While it is not defined in the law how many attempts to obtain records must be made, we do not believe the claim should languish or the VA left in an endless cycle of requests simply
because a private entity does not or will not respond to such requests.
However, when the records identified by the claimant are in custody of a Federal
agency, we do not believe VA should be allowed to limit its requests. Section 103
of this legislation states the Secretary shall not make fewer than two attempts to
obtain Federal records, which essentially means VA will make no more than two
requests. DAV believes the claimant would be gravely penalized by limiting the requests made by VA simply because of the lack of cooperation between Federal
agencies.
Additionally, we believe this section should require the Federal agency the records
are requested from to provide the records to the VA, or a response as to why the
records cannot be provided, within 30 days of VAs request.
Although we appreciate the intent of this legislation to provide quicker decisions
for veterans whose claims are pending because Federal agencies do not respond to
VA requests for records, we are concerned that this legislation removes rather than
increases pressure on those Federal agencies. Instead, we believe that the provisions
in S. 674 requiring greater accountability for Federal agencies through stricter reporting is a better approach and more likely to lead to more accurate decisions for
veterans.
DAV is not opposed to Sections 104, 105 and 106 of this bill.
Section 201 would modify the filing period of a Notice of Disagreement (NOD) to
decisions from the VA by reducing the currently allowed one year period to 180 days
from the date of the decision. Currently the vast majority of claimants who file an
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NOD already do so within 180 days. As such, one can reasonably ascertain claimants who dont file within 180 days need the additional time to obtain and submit
additional evidence in support of their claim. As such, DAV is opposed to Section
201 of the bill, as we do not see any positive effect resulting from this change at
this time.
Section 202 would allow the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) to automatically
select videoconference hearings to be scheduled for claimants desiring a hearing before the Board, unless the claimant specifically requests to appear in person before
the Board. With the large number of claimants DAV represents, especially before
the Board, we understand the benefits of the videoconference hearing process, specifically a claimant being able to be heard by the Board in a much faster and cost
efficient manner. In fact, DAV encourages claimants desiring to have a hearing before the Board to do so by way of videoconference. As such, DAV supports this section of the bill as it would improve the timeliness of the appeal process; however,
a veteran must always retain the right to have an in-person hearing if so desired.
Further, we recommend the notice of appeal rights sent to a claimant include the
automatic scheduling for a videoconference hearing before the Board along with the
right to appear in person before the Board.
DAV is not opposed to sections 203, 301, 302, 303 and 304 of the bill.
Section 305 of the bill would provide an extension of temporary authority for disability medical examinations to be performed by contract physicians. If enacted, this
section of the bill would extend this authority through December 31, 2014. The results from contracted examinations have been positive in the way of faster scheduling, more thorough, and better interaction with the physician providing the examination. As such, DAV supports this section of the bill, although we would like to
see the authority extended further due to the positive feedback we have received
from claimants and our National Service Officers, as well as employees in the VBA
who review these examinations. With respect to the reporting requirement in this
section of the bill, DAV is not clear of its actual purpose or what is hoped to be
gained. While we have no reservation about requiring VA to provide a report about
this process, we do question the requirement that VA do so at a time when the
backlog of claims continues to grow.
S. 930
S. 930 would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, when there is an overpayment of benefits under Post-9/11 Educational Assistance, to deduct amounts for repayment from the last months of educational assistance entitlement.
DAV has no resolution or position in this matter.
S. 932
S. 932, the Putting Veterans Funding First Act of 2013, would authorize advance
appropriations for all discretionary accounts within the VA, effective in the first and
subsequent budgets submitted by the President following the date of enactment.
While DAV does not have a resolution supporting the precise idea of advance appropriations for these purposes, DAV Resolution No. 216 seeks to ensure full implementation of legislation to guarantee sufficient, timely and predictable funding for VA
health care. As this Committee is aware, DAV and the entire veterans service organization community strongly supported reformed appropriations legislation for VA
health care, finally enacted as Public Law 11181, the Veterans Health Care Budget
Reform and Transparency Act of 2009. In the same vein as Public Law 11181 and
the positive impact it has had on VA health care, S. 932 seeks to provide the same
support to veterans, their families and dependents, through all VA discretionary
accounts.
As this Committee also knows well, Federal programs, including the VA, have
often been stymied in their responsibilities because they are forced to operate on flat
or reduced spending plans constrained by continuing resolutions. If every VA program were funded in advance of need, VA decisionmakers and staff would gain confidence that funds were available long before the beginning of each budget year.
This certainty would enable them to plan in more rational ways to ensure that veterans, their survivors and dependents, receive the benefits and services they have
earned without delay or disruption, and would ensure VAs myriad programs would
be able to operate more efficiently; from a business perspective, and without the distraction of being managed in an irrational, continuing resolution environment.
For each operative year of advance appropriations for VA health care, the Committees on the Budget have provided budget waivers to protect against points of
order that would have prevented legislation containing advance appropriations due
to restrictions under the governing Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of
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1974. Mr. Chairman, we believe advance appropriations for all VA accounts should
be permanently insulated from points of order, not by uncertain and individual
waivers to be given; the necessity for waivers to block points of order should be
eliminated as this bill is considered by Congress. DAV requests these actions be
taken, either in amending S. 932 itself, or in conjunction with the jurisdiction of the
Committee on the Budget.
Additionally, Mr. Chairman, Public Law 11181 contained language requiring the
Comptroller General to evaluate and report on the accuracy and sufficiency of VAs
formulation of its health care budgets covering fiscal years 2011, 2012 and 2013. We
believe this monitoring and reporting function has provided a meaningful and effective source of oversight of VAs internal budgeting processes, and leads to more accurate and sufficient budgeting over time. This authorizing language requiring GAO
reviews was not included as a permanent part of the Code, so it has reached its
sunset effective at the end of this fiscal year. We ask that consideration be given
to making this mandate a permanent part of title 38, United States Code, and extending a new multi-year mandate to the GAO as an amendment to this bill.
Based upon DAVs practical observation, Public Law 11181 has positively
changed behavior in VA health care. This legislation would bring more stability,
predictability and timely appropriations to all of VA. As such, in accordance with
DAV Resolution No. 216, we support enactment of S. 932 and urge Congress to
move this legislation forward as a high priority.
S. 935
S. 935, the Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013, would improve the VA
disability claims process by prohibiting the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from requesting unnecessary medical examinations for veterans who have submitted sufficient medical evidence from non-VA medical professionals, which is competent, credible, probative and otherwise adequate for rating purposes.
Additionally, S. 935 would expand the pre-stabilization rating criteria under section 4.28 of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, by adding a 30 percent level to
the already established 50 percent and 100 percent level of disability for separating
servicemembers suffering from wounds, injuries or illnesses that are not completely
healed. Similarly, this bill would allow for a temporary minimum rating to be assigned to a veteran with one or more disabilities and sufficient evidence to support
a minimum rating.
While we are certainly supportive of providing a temporary minimum rating,
which may dramatically improve the timeliness of the disability claims process for
many veterans and VA alike, we believe the language of section 3 of the bill is too
broad. First, expanding the pre-stabilization rating process to include a 30 percent
level of disability would only serve to allow VA to use this percentage as the automatic base level for incompletely or unhealed conditions versus the already capable
percentage of 50 percent, which would undoubtedly become obsolete. We believe the
30 percent rating level would be more appropriate under the temporary minimum
rating portion of section 3, which would allow a VA rater to, upon initial review of
the evidence, establish that service connection is warranted for at least one disability, provide a temporary rating of at least 30 percent while the overall claim is
being processed. This would allow veterans and their families to begin receiving
compensation and provide eligibility for a plethora of other Federal and state benefits while the full claim is being processed.
Last, S. 935 would provide for benefit payments to be made at the first of a month
for the coming month instead of the current practice of benefit payments being
made at the end of the month for the immediately passing month.
As such, in accordance with DAV Resolution No. 205, we support enactment of
S. 935.
S. 938
S. 938, the Franchise Education for Veterans Act of 2013, would amend title 38,
United States Code, to allow certain veterans to use educational assistance provided
by the VA for franchise training. Specifically, this legislation would expand education and training opportunities under the All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program by allowing veterans to utilize a portion of their educational benefit
toward franchise training. DAV recognizes not every veteran or service-disabled veteran learns in the same manner or has the same goal of achieving an educational
degree; however, we believe there are many veterans and service-disabled veterans
who, unfortunately, allow their education benefit entitlement to expire unused as
they do not want to pursue an education degree type program.
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In accordance with DAV Resolution No. 001, we support enactment of S. 938, as
it would expand the use of the VA provided education benefit and empower servicedisabled veterans to use their education benefit in a manner conducive to their own
employment interests and goals.
S. 939
S. 939 would amend title 38, United States Code, to treat certain misfiled documents as motions for reconsideration of decisions by the Board of Veterans Appeals
(Board). Under current law, when a veteran claimant receives an adverse decision
from the Board, he or she has 120 days to file a Notice of Appeal with the United
States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). Many veteran claimants, especially those without representation, do not distinguish the Court tribunal as being
separate from the VA, specifically the Board or the agency of original jurisdiction
(AOJ), primarily the VA Regional Office where the claim originated.
When a veteran claimant receives a final, adverse decision from the Board he or
she may inadvertently file their Notice of Appeal directly with the Board or the AOJ
within the 120-day period rather than the Court. If the Board or AOJ does not forward the Notice of Appeal to the Court on behalf of the veteran claimant within
the 120-day appeal period, the veteran claimant may forfeit their appeal rights and
the Boards decision would become final and binding.
S. 939 would afford certain protection to a veteran claimant who submits to the
Board or AOJ a document expressing disagreement with the Boards decision within
120 days of such decision. This legislation would require VA to treat such documents as a motion for reconsideration to the Boards decision; unless the document
clearly expresses the intent of a veteran claimant to appeal the Boards decision to
the Court.
As such, in accordance with DAV Resolution No. 205, we support enactment of
S. 939.
S. 944
S. 944, the Veterans Educational Transition Act of 2013, would require courses
of education provided by public institutions of higher education that are approved
for purposes of the All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program and Post9/11 Educational Assistance to charge veterans tuition and fees at the in-State tuition rate.
S. 1039
S. 1039, the Spouses of Heroes Education Act, would expand the Marine Gunnery
Sergeant John David Fry scholarship to include spouses of members of the Armed
Forces who die in the line of duty.
S. 1042
S. 1042, the Veterans Legal Support Act of 2013, would authorize the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs to provide support to university law school programs that are
designed to provide legal assistance to veterans. Specifically, this bill would authorize financial support of $1,000,000 total derived from VA Medical Services account
to fund this program, which is intended to provide financial support to university
law school programs that provide legal assistance to veterans; assistance including
filing and appealing VA claims in addition to other civil, criminal and family legal
matters.
S. 1042 does not provide details about the purpose of the funding nor the activities of the individuals involved in providing legal assistance. It is not clear whether
these individuals would be accredited representatives; what if any training in this
process will be required; what type of accessibility to VA systems and records will
be afforded; what level of representation will be provided, etc. We believe there are
many questions contained within this bill that are unanswered in its broad language and more specific information is necessary to fully understand the goal of this
bill.
While DAV does not have a resolution on this matter, we are concerned about the
funding for this bill being taken from the VA Medical Services account, or any other
VA account. Too often, new programs are funded by taking resources away from existing health care programs serving veterans, especially disabled veterans. DAV opposes funding any program at the expense of existing programs for disabled veterans, especially to fund a program to afford representation, which may or may not
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have a cost to the veteran, when organizations like DAV and other veteran service
organizations have a rich history and provide professional advocacy services and
representation with no government funding and no cost to the veteran.
S. 1058
S. 1058, the Creating a Reliable Environment for Veterans Dependents Act,

would expand section 2012 of title 38, United States Code, to authorize per diem
payments for the purpose of furnishing care to dependents of homeless veterans to
grant recipient entities who provide comprehensive service programs for homeless
veterans as covered under section 2011 of the same title.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony and I would be happy to answer any
questions from you or Members of the Committee.
Chairman SANDERS. Thank you very much, Mr. Hall.

Mr. de Planque.
STATEMENT OF IAN DE PLANQUE, DEPUTY LEGISLATIVE
DIRECTOR, THE AMERICAN LEGION
Mr. DE PLANQUE. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and other Members of the Committee. I want to thank you on behalf of The American Legion for having us here, and I want to thank you especially
for the large slate of bills that are being considered and the dedicated and tireless work of your staffs and the Members to bring
such an ambitious slate to the forefront.
I just want to touch on a couple of those things, one of which
deals with the in-state tuition rates for veterans using the GI Bill
benefits.
As you know, The American Legion has a long-standing history
with the GI Bill. We helped craft of the original GI Bill. We have
been working tirelessly on this issue for a long time.
We have strong support for S. 257 because it supports the widest
number of veterans getting access to in-state tuition, and this is
very important. We feel it is the one that puts the veterans first,
not the States necessarily, not the schools necessarily. It is the one
that has the interest of the veterans at heart.
It is a difficult issue. There has been a lot of criticism of a variety of things regarding it. Using military tuition assistance at public schools has already been recognized at the Higher Education
Opportunity Act of 2008. This is something that has already been
agreed to.
If you look at veterans, if you look at the servicemembers, they
are a very small group of people, the only group of people who really have trouble maintaining the residency requirements to get
these in-state tuition rates.
We have already recognized that for active-duty servicemembers
it needs to apply across all the veterans. When they stood there,
when they took that oath, when they went to serve, they did not
serve to defend Virginia, they did not serve to defend North Carolina, they served to defend the entire country.
The entire country owes that back. All Americans in every State
owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who served in the
Armed Forces.
In addition, public universities are nonprofit institutions that get
special privileges such as massive Federal and State government
subsidies and tax exemptions based on the assumption that they
are good stewards of the public trust.
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Granting in-state rates should be seen as part of that exercise of
trust. Student veterans face many challenges in pursuing higher
education. There is no reason why obtaining in-state tuition rates
should be one of them.
We have seen with the original GI Bill what the dividend paid
back to the country was. That is why we passed the new GI Bill
for the veterans of the current wars; and to get that dividend, to
get the maximum return on that dividend, we need to make sure
that we are extending this benefit and making sure there is fairness there.
Regarding fairness, I also want to talk about the Ruth Moore
Act, S. 294, because it is essentially an issue of fairness. We have
recognized already within the disability claims system that there
are difficulties for combat veterans proving Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder, stressors, issues of that nature. The reason they recognize it was because they knew in combat it is hard to keep records.
There are very incomplete records. There are very inaccurate
records. When you are sitting there engaging, fixing, destroying the
enemy, you do not stop to take notes of every single thing that goes
on. There was a recognition of this and so they came up with relaxed evidence standards.
Well, we heard Senator Tester talking this morning about how
as many as 85 percent of military sexual trauma crimes can go unreported. We know that in the past records of these incidents have
been thrown out after a year or 3 years by mandatory regulations.
We know this is something where the same condition exists.
There is poor recordkeeping and victims of these terrible, terrible
crimes that happen in the service are having to suffer again because we will not relax the evidence standards.
The Ruth Moore Act would fix that. It will help bring them to
the same standard that we treat the heroes of combat. We need to
treat all of our heroes in the same way, and this is very important
to us.
I also want to take a moment to thank you especially, but the
Committee as a whole, for working to help fight chained CPI for
veterans with the cost of living increase. This is something that we
cannot afford: to take these most vulnerable people, our disabled
veterans and elderly veterans, and make them bear the brunt.
Everybody always talks about how we are not going to balance
the budget on the backs of our veterans. Well, that is what the
chained CPI is doing. So, we want to thank you for continuing your
flight on that, and The American Legion is happy to answer any
questions that you have. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ian de Planque follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF IAN DE PLANQUE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL
LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION, THE AMERICAN LEGION
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr and distinguished Members of the
Committee, On behalf of Commander Koutz and the 2.4 million members of The
American Legion, we thank you and your colleagues for the work you do in support
of our servicemembers and veterans as well as their families. The hard work of this
Committee in creating significant legislation has left a positive impact on our military and veterans community.
Nationwide, The American Legion has over 2,600 accredited service officers to ensure veterans receive the benefits to which they are entitled at no cost to those veterans. Not only do we advocate for the 2.4 million members in our organization, but
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also the millions of veterans who do not hold membership; in short, we live by the
motto a veteran is a veteran and is deserving of representation when seeking VA
benefits. We recognize the necessity to adequately compensate veterans and veterans families for disabilities incurred during service to our Nation.
As a grassroots organization, The American Legion draws upon the strength of
its membership to provide guidance on policies in the form of resolutions passed
during annual national conventions or at meetings of the National Executive Committee. The will of the membership of the Legion is expressed through these resolutions, which support or oppose policy decisions on topics of concern, whether for veterans, the children and youth of America, a strong national defense, or the principles of Americanism. The support and positions of The American Legion on any
legislation is derived from the guidance of these resolutions and the founding documents of our organization.
S. 6: PUTTING OUR VETERANS BACK TO WORK ACT OF 2013
To reauthorize the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, to provide assistance to small
businesses owned by veterans, to improve enforcement of employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed services, and for other purposes.
This expansive bill renews many provisions of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, supported by The American Legion in 2011, and expands on many of the provisions of
that law, as well as offering other solutions to continue to address veterans employment concerns.
The American Legion has been the leading veterans voice in getting veterans
back to work as those who have served this Nation have suffered from unemployment rates fully two thirds or more higher than their comparative civilian cohort.
Annually, The American Legion has worked with the Chamber of Commerce on
hundreds of hiring fairs and put countless thousands of veterans back to work. Ensuring that the Nations protectors are matched up with the jobs their military service has prepared them for is a top priority of The American Legion.
As an organization, we were deeply involved in the creation of the unified employment portal for online government hiring through development stages with the Department of Labor and the Office of Personnel Management. As the Nations largest
wartime veterans organization, The American Legion is certainly cognizant of the
many benefits to hiring veterans and supports increases to the weight of influence
in determining an overall score, when considering the hiring veterans, as an evaluation factor in solicitations for contracts.
At every stage of this Nations history, veterans of the Armed Forces have been
vital to building the infrastructure of progress and the backbone of the labor force.
This bill contains many important improvements to the employment environment
for veterans to ensure they continue to provide the key role in Americas workforce
they have always enjoyed.
The American Legion supports this legislation.
S. 200
A bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to authorize the interment in national cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration of individuals who served in combat support of the Armed Forces in the Kingdom of Laos
between February 28, 1961 and May 15, 1975, and for other purposes.
The American Legion has no position on this legislation.
S. 257: GI BILL TUITION FAIRNESS ACT OF 2013
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), for purposes of the educational assistance programs administered by the Secretary, to disapprove courses of education
provided by public institutions of higher education that do not charge tuition and
fees for veterans at the same rate that is charged for in-state residents, regardless
of the veterans state of residence.
The American Legion is synonymous with veterans education, and was instrumental in the first, and most recent GI Bills passage designed to help the modernday veteran navigate the confusing world of education benefits. The main reason for
the Post-9/11 GI Bill was that VA education benefits were no longer sufficiently
keeping pace with fast-rising tuition costs. Working with Congress, The American
Legion stressed the need for a 21st Century GI Bill that would provide benefits
worthy of todays veterans, while offering similar opportunities afforded to those
who fought in World War II.
Critics have said that S. 257 sets a dangerous precedent for other non-resident
students utilizing Federal aid programs. The American Legion strongly disagrees
because military servicemembers and military veterans are the only cohort of Amer-
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icans who cannot satisfy residency requirements for in-state tuition because of circumstances beyond their control. Recognizing these unique circumstances, servicemembers are already offered this reasonable accommodation when using military
Tuition Assistance at public schools through the Higher Education Authorization
Act; however, once a servicemember leaves the military this protection goes away.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill only pays in-state tuition and eligible fees. Veterans who
settle in states other than their state of residence upon separating from the service
are initially charged out-of-state tuition, which means they must pay the difference between the resident and non-resident charges of that states tuition. Servicemembers are not given the option to move to any state and establish residency
prior to their separation from the Armed Forces, which can lead to financial burdens.
State policies have adjusted in the last decade to allow active and reserve members to access in-state tuition rates, but separating servicemembers (future veterans) must fulfill established residency time requirements to establish state residency and access in-state tuition rates beginning the day they are discharged, and
receive no credit for living in that state while they were serving there during their
active duty commitment. The Yellow Ribbon Program, included in the Post-9/11 GI
Bill, supplements costs above the in-state tuition rate by matching contributions
made by an institution of higher learning (IHL) toward veterans education; however, cuts to education scholarship programs have hindered effective implementation of this program.
Over the last couple of years, we have heard from countless veterans who, because
of the nature of military service, have had a difficult time establishing residency for
purposes of obtaining in-state tuition rates. Under current rules, 40,000 student-veterans have to pay the difference between in-state tuition, which is covered by the
Post-9/11 GI Bill, and out-of-state tuition if they are attending school as a nonresident. Because of this, many of our student-veterans are unable to use their GI
Bill benefits at an institution of higher education of their choice or are required to
pay thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses in nonresidential tuition rates.
This added financial burden undermines the original intent of the program.
Additionally, public colleges and universities have significantly raised the costs of
out-of-state tuition to offset decreasing revenues due to state budget cuts. Circumstances such as these pose significant challenges to using this important benefit.
Because of this, and through resolution,1 The American Legion is working hard to
ensure the Post-9/11 GI Bill receives appropriate enhancements to continually improve how this vital benefit functions for the servicemembers who utilize the benefits.
The American Legion is addressing this issue on several fronts, and in addition
to supporting Federal legislation, continues to lead a state-by-state initiative to introduce, advocate for, and support state legislation that would waive the residency
requirements for separating veterans, which would grant them access to in-state
tuition at public colleges and universities, regardless of their residency status.
Veterans shouldnt be penalized just because their residence of enlistment was in
another state, or be made to assume tremendous financial burdens due to the recent
change in law which often caps GI Bill benefits far short of the high out-of-state
rates. Therefore, this legislation is absolutely essential to thousands of veterans who
were promised this assistance for their college education when the Post-9/11 GI Bill
was originally passed, and is vital to giving veterans an equal opportunity to afford
the school of their choice.
We were pleased to support this bipartisan effort, S. 257, which would require
public colleges and universities to give veterans in-state tuition rates even though
they may not be considered residents. The requirement would apply to state schools
which have programs that are eligible to receive funding under the GI Bill.
The American Legion supports this bill.
S. 262: VETERANS EDUCATION EQUITY ACT OF 2013
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide equity for tuition and fees for
individuals entitled to educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs who are pursuing programs
of education at institutions of higher learning, and for other purposes.
The American Legion understands that the goal of this bill is similar to that of
S. 257. We thank Senator Durbin for taking this issue seriously and introducing legislation in an effort to ensure more equitable reimbursement for student-veterans
1 Resolution
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attending public schools. The American Legion supported this initiative in the last
Congress, but we must explain why we have refined our position on this issue.
Public colleges and universities have significantly raised the costs of out-of-state
tuition to offset decreasing revenues due to state budget cuts, making any tuition
discount all the more costly. Circumstances such as these pose significant challenges
to using this important benefit. Because of this, many of Americas student-veterans
are unable to use their GI Bill benefits at a school of their choice or are required
to pay thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses in nonresidential tuition rates.
Since 1862, with the passage of the Morrill Act, institutions of higher education
have always received some form of education subsidies. However, it was not until
1944 with the passage of the Servicemens Readjustment Act of 1944the original
GI Billwhich allowed World War II veterans to attend college at no cost, that
those institutions of higher education began receiving their first major subsidy for
students in higher education. The GI Bill is widely admired legislation, but like
many subsidy programs it led to substantial wasteful spending and abuse. Some colleges and universities used Federal funds for extraneous purposes, such as swimming pools and stadiums, while others increased tuition rates charged to veterans.
There were also cases of outright fraud by schools aimed at garnering extra Federal
funds.
Interestingly, the rise in student subsides coupled with the rise of tuition and
other college expenses over the last several decades, has brought a significant spotlight on institutions of higher education. This, added to the current reality of education spending cuts, has lead institutions of higher education to view the Post9/11 GI Bill funding as nothing more than another source of subsidy to fill the void
these cuts have created.
The American Legion believes that increasing GI Bill funding to higher educational institutions is potentially harmful on many fronts; it encourages bloat and
inefficiency, and is an unfair burden on taxpayers. It also poses a threat to the core
strengths of American higher education, including institutional autonomy, competition, and innovation. While we cannot support S. 262, we sincerely appreciate Senator Durbins interest in this issue and we look forward to working with him on a
fair solution for our current and future student-veterans.
The American Legion does not support this bill.
S. 294: RUTH MOORE ACT OF 2013
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the disability compensation
evaluation procedure of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans with mental
health conditions related to military sexual trauma, and for other purposes.
The American Legions accredited representatives at county service offices, regional offices, and the Board of Veterans Appeals have acknowledged that a unique
situation exists for victims of military sexual trauma (MST). MST is often an unreported crime, or even in the best cases poorly documented, and when MST is reported as the result of sexual assault or rape it is not uncommon for a lackluster
investigation to occur resulting in the perpetrator of the crime never to be brought
to justice.
On March 26, 2013, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a study: Returning
Home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Assessment of Readjustment Needs of Veterans,
Servicemembers, and Their Families. According to the study, [M]ilitary sexual
trauma has been occurring in high rates throughout the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters. Sexual harassment and assaults disproportionately affect women; they have both mental and physical ramifications, and in
many cases these victims have a difficult time readjusting. As evidenced by this
study, a staggering number of veterans reported suffering MST; over 48,000 women
and 43,000 men have reported experiencing military sexual trauma.
S. 294 addresses concerns raised repeatedly by The American Legion regarding
MST. In testimony provided by The American Legion before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs on July 18, 2012,
Lori Perkio, Assistant Director for The American Legion Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Division, pointed to changes by VA in 2010 regarding combat zones and
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and stated The American Legions position that the
same consideration should be applied to MST victims as well. Both combat zones
and MST related injuries are similar, and both types of claims reflect situations
where there is a known and acknowledged culture of inadequate record keeping.
Regulations allow for extra latitude on behalf of combat veterans to reflect the lack
of record keeping, but the same consideration is not extended to rape and assault
survivors, though their trauma is no less devastating.
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The American Legion believes that VA should review military personnel files in
all MST claims and apply reduced criteria to MST-related PTSD to match that of
combat-related PTSD. 2 S. 294 adequately meets the criteria of American Legion
resolution 295 by setting up similar criteria for MST victims as those in effect for
combat victims.
S. 373: CHARLIE MORGAN MILITARY SPOUSES EQUAL TREATMENT ACT OF 2013
A bill to amend titles 10, 32, 37, and 38 of the United States Code, to add a definition of spouse for purposes of military personnel policies and military and veteran
benefits that recognizes new State definitions of spouse.
S. 430: VETERANS SMALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY AND PROTECTION ACT OF 2013
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance treatment of certain
small business concerns for purposes of Department of Veterans Affairs contracting
goals and preferences, and for other purposes.
The American Legion has long been an advocate for amending the law to protect
the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOB) status and has stated so
through resolution.3 The American Legion works with veteran business owners all
over the world, and has seen first-hand how the death of a veteran business owner
creates an immediate and prejudicial hardship on the surviving spouse and family
of the deceased veteran. The American Legion strongly supports the changes proposed in this legislation as they will properly improve and increase the benefits bequeathed to the veterans spouses or dependents who inherit a veteran owned business. The bill would increase the time period for a 100 percent disabled veterans
spouse who has died as a result of a service-connected condition, to ten years, and
would establish a benefit of three years for a 100 percent disabled veteran who dies
as a result of a non-service-connected condition.
S. 492
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require States to recognize the military
experience of veterans when issuing licenses and credentials to veterans, and for
other purposes.
The American Legion applauds Senator Burr and his colleagues for their work in
support of Americas servicemembers, veterans, and their families, as well as for the
introduction of this legislation. Since 1996, The American Legion has worked tirelessly; first to bring this issue to the forefront of national attention, and second to
work on a comprehensive solution to this issue.
The American Legion believes that legislation designed to withhold funding could
seriously slow, or stall the positive momentum The American Legion and Department of Defense have made, and continue to make at both national and state levels.
At present, some states accept national certifications for licensure purposes, and
will award a license when presented with a certification certificate. The American
Legion believes that states should administer an examination or accept a nationally
recognized certification as an equivalent for licensure purposes, as opposed to completion of a passing score that is based on national accepted practices.
It is the opinion of The American Legion that the success of improving accessibility to state licensing and certification for veterans who possess equivalent
skillsets will require the full cooperation of the state boards. We believe that in
order for that to happen, the Federal Government must do its part to develop new
regulations, and make changes to existing programs, policies and practices to support and reinforce what is happening in many states and across the credentialing
industry. If Congress withholds funding from states, this will not be possible.
As currently written, The American Legion cannot support S. 492. We appreciate
Senator Burrs efforts in this issue and we look forward to working with him on a
solution for our current and future servicemembers, veterans, and their spouses that
will advance the efforts to provide a uniformed and seamless transition for our Nations military trained professionals.
The American Legion does not support this bill.
2 Resolution
No. 295: Military Sexual Trauma (MST), AUG 2012.

No. 323: The Status of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business After the Death
of the Veteran Owner, AUG 2012.
3 Resolution
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S. 495: CAREERS FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require Federal agencies to hire veterans, to require States to recognize the military experience of veterans when
issuing licenses and credentials to veterans, and for other purposes.
This broad reaching legislation takes a multifaceted approach to improving career
prospects for veterans by addressing not only hiring of veterans, but also through
improvements in the Federal Governments acceptance of military experience and
certifications and improvements in contracting goals and preferences for veteran
owned small businesses.
The bill would require the heads of Federal agencies to develop plans and work
in conjunction with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to increase Federal
hiring of veterans to include 10,000 covered veterans over the next five years. The
American Legion recognizes better than anyone the unique contributions and
strengths veterans bring to employers and is a devoted advocate for increasing Federal hiring of veterans. The American Legion urges all executives in government to
enforce veterans preference in their respective agencies 4, and strongly supports veterans preference hiring and efforts to support such.
Other provisions of the bill supported by The American Legion include support
for improvements to state One-Stop Centers,5 the modification of treatment under
contracting goals and preferences for small business owners after the death of disabled veteran owners,6 as well as the expansion of the contracting goals and preferences of the VA regarding veteran owned businesses.
The American Legion supports this bill
S. 514
A bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to require states to provide additional Educational Assistance under Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to Veterans
pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering, math or an area that leads
to employment in a high demand occupation, and for other purposes
The American Legion supports Senator Browns pending legislation, S. 514, which
seeks to provide additional educational assistance under the Post-9/11 GI Bill to better assist veterans pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering, math or
an area that leads to employment in a high-demand occupation.
Based on our research, The American Legion believes that the United States, in
the face of increasing competition, needs to maintain its hard won status as the
world leader in science, technology, engineering, and math. Currently, there is high
demand for jobs in these areas and our servicemembers, who have been screened,
tested, and highly trained in a great number of highly technical military specialties,
stand ready to significantly contribute to these sectors through innovation and ingenuity. Unfortunately, degrees in these kinds of programs can often cost more or last
longer than other programs of education, making them a less desirable option for
transitioning servicemembers who are concerned with starting new careers and supporting their families.
This legislation provides additional funding for individuals in these types of educational programs that will assist the United States in maintaining its technological
leadership in the international community, while supporting our continued national
commitment to education in these fields of study. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
should be given the discretion to allocate additional funds for students participating
in such programs as deemed appropriate. In August 2012, The American Legion
passed resolution 153, because our members believe that it is imperative to the Nations continued world leadership and economic prosperity as well as aerospace and
military superiority 7 to ensure that these skills remain a top priority throughout
our American system of education.
S. 515
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the Yellow Ribbon G.I.
John David Fry scholarship, and for other purposes.
4 Resolution
No. 330: Support Veterans Preference in Public Employment, AUG 2012.

No. 295: Support Priority of Service for Veterans in All State Employment Services Agencies (SESA) One-Stop Centers, AUG 2004.
6 Resolution No. 323: The Status of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business after the Death
of the Veteran Owner, AUG 2012.
7 Resolution 153: Support for NASA and Advancements in Aeronautical and Space Research,
AUG 2012.
5 Resolution
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The John David Fry Scholarship was created by Public Law 11132 in honor of
Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry, and amends the Post-9/11 GI Bill to include the children of servicemembers who die in the line of duty after September 10,
2001.
The American Legion is deeply committed to the plight of the children whose parents die on active duty in service to this Nation. The American Legion established
the Legacy Scholarship Fund to help meet the shortfalls these children experience,
in an attempt to make up for significant shortfalls in government money allotted
to these childrenthe Federal Government gives these children a college education
stipend worth about $37,000. Taking into account living expenses, textbooks and rising tuitions; this benefit covers little more than half of the basic college costs in the
most affordable situations, and the price tag of higher learning will only continue
to rise. The most conservative estimates predict a 5-percent annual increase, meaning that in 16 years the most affordable college education will rise to a staggering
$132,800.
The American Legion has long been a champion in the passage and improvement
of the GI Bill; from the passage of the original GI Bill in World War II, through
the passage of the Post-9/11 GI Billand through several iterations of Post-9/11 GI
Bill Improvement Acts. The American Legion supports the full transferability of GI
Bill benefits through resolution 296,8 and to leave the children of those who have
made the ultimate sacrifice behind in Yellow Ribbon benefits seems contrary to the
spirit of the laws enacted to provide education as a reward for service and sacrifice.
This promise is the heart of the GI Bill.
S. 572: VETERANS SECOND AMENDMENT ACT
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the conditions under which
certain persons may be treated as adjudicated mentally incompetent for certain
purposes.
It is both sad and ironic that the veterans community, a community in which
each and every member swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States, to
include the 2nd Amendment, requires advocacy to maintain its constitutional right
to bear arms. Unless deemed unfit to possess weapons by a judicial authority with
the full benefit of due process, The American Legion believes that each veteran, regardless of disability, should maintain the right to possess a firearm. Any constitutional right should be protected with this same expectation of careful scrutiny to ensure no right is removed without due process.
On December 2, 2012, NBC News published an article regarding veteran hunting
trips as a form of therapy for combat veterans.9 Throughout the Nation, numerous
organizations organize hunting trips for veterans; and even the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has acknowledged the positive effects of shooting firearms for
some veterans. Jose Llamas, community and public affairs officer for VAs National
Veterans Sports Program stated that hunting is included in a veterans health-life
plan, and at various adaptive sports summits throughout the Nation, veterans can
enjoy target shooting as well as competitive marksmanship competitions. Additionally, a recent $25,000 grant was made to the Grand Junction, Colorado, VA Medical
Center, to purchase the necessary equipment for veterans to hunt.
Furthermore, there are concerns that the threat of being placed on a list that
might deny them their 2nd Amendment rights could act as a deterrent for veterans
who might otherwise seek treatment. When the positive effects of therapy for conditions such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are so important, driving veterans away for fear of repercussions such as confiscation of firearms could only exacerbate existing stigmas.
During the 94th National Convention of The American Legion, Resolution 68 was
passed. According to the resolution, The American Legion reaffirms its recognition
that the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees
each law-abiding American citizen the right to keep and bear arms; and, be it finally
resolved, that the membership of The American Legion urges our Nations lawmakers to recognize, as part of their oaths of office, that the Second Amendment
guarantees law-abiding citizens the right to keep and bear arms of their choice, as
do the millions of American veterans who have fought, and continue to fight, to preserve those rights, hereby advise the Congress of the United States and the Execu8 Resolution 296: Amending the Eligibility for the Transfer of the Post-9/11 GI Bill Educational benefits, AUG 2012.
9 http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/02/15575983-florida-guide-uses-hunting-as-rustictherapy-for-combat-veterans?lite.
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tive Department to cease and desist any and all efforts to restrict these right by
any legislation or order.
S. 629: HONOR AMERICAS GUARD-RESERVES ACT OF 2013
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code to recognize the service in the reserve
components of certain persons by honoring them with status as veterans under law.
This legislation honors, as a veteran, any person entitled to retired pay for nonregular (reserve) service or, but for age, would be so entitled. The bill provides that
such person shall not be entitled to any benefit by reason of such recognition.
Since the inception of the all-volunteer force, members of the National Guard and
reserve have stood side-by-side with their active duty counterparts, ready to answer
the call to protect the Nation. As embodied in the recently adopted Resolution No.
10,10 The American Legion believes those who have taken that solemn oath and
stepped forward to serve their country, the Armed Forces of the United States;
whether active duty, reserve, or National Guard, deserve the title Veteran.
S. 674: ACCOUNTABILITY FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013
To require prompt responses from the heads of covered Federal agencies when the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs requests information necessary to adjudicate claims
for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, and for other purposes.
The American Legion processes thousands of veteran disability claims each year,
and is acutely aware of the vital need for the interagency cooperation necessary to
develop a Fully Developed Claim (FDC). Historically, VA has called upon Federal
agencies such as Department of Defense, Social Security Administration (SSA), and
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide necessary documents to support various
claims submitted by veterans. In December 2012, Allison Hickey, VA Under Secretary for Benefits, announced a program created between VA, SSA, and IRS eliminating the need for veterans receiving pension benefits to complete the Eligibility
Verification Report (EVR). This serves as the example of a positive relationship between VA and other Federal entities.
The American Legion has called upon Congress to to pass legislation that requires VA be held accountable for achieving the VA Secretarys stated goal to
achieve an operational state for VA in which no claim is pending over 125 days and
all claims have an accuracy rate of 98 percent or higher, which is detailed in American Resolution 99. 11 As we are calling upon VA to adjudicate claims in a timely
and accurate manner, accordingly, it is only appropriate that we also allow for VA
to have the all available tools to accomplish the stated objectives. If a separate government entity holds a veterans records that are pertinent to a VA claim, then that
entity should comply with VAs request in a timely manner and provide the necessary required documentation.
S. 690: FILIPINO VETERANS FAIRNESS ACT OF 2013
To amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the organized
military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the
Philippine Scouts to have been active service for purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
In brief, this bill will strike the word not in two subsections in section 107 of
title 38, U.S.C.. By striking this word and the remainder of the subsections the
U.S.C. will read:
(a) Service before July 1, 1946, in the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, while such forces were in the
service of the Armed Forces of the United States pursuant to the military order
of the President dated July 26, 1941, including among such military forces organized guerrilla forces under commanders appointed, designated, or subsequently
recognized by the Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific Area, or other competent authority in the Army of the United States, shall be deemed to have
been active military, naval, or air service for the purposes of any law of the
United States conferring rights, privileges, or benefits upon any person by rea10 Resolution No. 10: Support Veteran Status for National Guard and Reserve Servicemembers
MAY 2013.
11 Resolution No. 99: Increase the Transparency of the Veterans Benefits Administrations
(VBA) Claims Processing.
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son of the service of such person or the service of any other person in the Armed
Forces.
(b) Service in the Philippine Scouts under section 14 of the Armed Forces Voluntary Recruitment Act of 1945 shall be deemed to have been active military,
naval, or air service for the purposes of any of the laws administered by the
Secretary.
Also, this bill introduces additional wording for determination of eligibility. It
charges the Secretary shall take into account any alternative documentation regarding such service, including documentation other than the Missouri List, that the
Secretary determines relevant.
This bill adds a report the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans
Affairs of the Senate and House of Representative that includes:
(a) The number of such individuals applying for benefits pursuant to this section during the previous year; and
(b) The number of such individuals that the Secretary approved for benefits.
S. 695: VETERANS PARALYMPICS ACT OF 2013
A bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to extend the Authorization of appropriations for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly assistance allowance to Disabled Veterans training or competing for the Paralympics team, and the
authorization of appropriations for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide assistance to United States Paralympics, Inc., and for other purposes.
S. 705: WAR MEMORIAL PROTECTION ACT OF 2013
A bill to amend Title 36, United States Code, to ensure Memorials commemorating the service of the United States Armed Forces may contain religious symbols,
and for other purposes.
As an organization whose motto reads For God and Country the notion that memorializing those who have served and sacrificed on behalf of this Nation could be
rendered devoid of recognition of their faith is alien and abhorrent. The American
Legion was a leading voice in the fight to protect the Mojave Cross in the California
desert to honor the sacrifices of the fallen. The American Legion was a leading voice
ensuring families of veterans in National Cemeteries have their religious faith recognized as a part of funeral services. While faith is an intensely personal matter
to a great majority of our veterans, The American Legion believes that a veterans
choice to recognize his or her particular faith on his or her own personal memorial
is in keeping with the protections of all personal choices guaranteed to any American citizen under any other circumstance.
That such a bill would even be considered necessary is disheartening, but The
American Legion will always protect the rights of those who serve to enjoy their
First Amendment protection to freely express their religious affiliation on their
grave markers. We thank Ranking Member Burr for taking up this fight.
S. 735: SURVIVOR BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2013
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and assistance provided to surviving spouses of veterans under laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
S. 735 addresses several areas that would improve the quality of life for dependents receiving VA benefits, to include Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
(DIC). The American Legion family has hundreds of thousands of members that are
directly affected by this provision, and has previously called upon Congress to eliminate the age criteria for a surviving spouse to remarry and continue to receive DIC
benefits.12
Thailand and herbicide exposure has been a continual concern for The American
Legion. As the regulations currently read, a veteran who served in Thailand during
the Vietnam Era has to prove exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides; this
process has proven to be burdensome for both veterans and surviving spouses. As
a result, a veteran who may have been exposed to herbicides while serving in Thailand may not have received the entitled benefits associated with herbicide exposure.
Equally as important, widows of veterans exposed to herbicides that may have met
their demise due to a condition associated with herbicide exposure are ineligible for
12 Resolution
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benefits, such as DIC. Additionally, children of veterans who have served in Thailand that may have been born with conditions associated with the veterans herbicide exposure have also been identified as ineligible for benefits.
The American Legion has repeatedly called for a full recognition of veterans that
served in Thailand between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, to be recognized as
presumptively exposed to herbicides and seek legislation to amend title 38, United
States Code, section 1116, to provide entitlement to these presumptions for those
veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange while serving in areas other than the
Republic of Vietnam where Agent Orange was tested, sprayed, or stored and has
called for this recognition through resolution number 199.13 Ultimately, it is our
belief that a veteran, no matter where the herbicide exposure occurred, should be
entitled to the same benefit as veterans that were exposed to herbicides in Vietnam.
S. 748: VETERANS PENSION PROTECTION ACT
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to consider the resources of individuals applying for pension that were recently
disposed of by the individuals for less than fair market value when determining the
eligibility of such individuals for such pension, and for other purposes.
The American Legion and our network of over 2,600 service officers regularly
work with veterans and their families to ensure they receive the benefits they deserve. Over the last several years, it has become more apparent that predatory actors are moving in and taking advantage of elderly veterans in a vulnerable position, by engaging in questionable business practices which can fleece a veteran of
their money while offering false promises of pension programs to pay for elder care
facilities.
While The American Legion is tremendously appreciative of Senator Wydens attention to this issue, and this legislations aim is admirableseeking to protect veterans from these predatory practices by increasing the look back period when examining veterans assets, The American Legion has reservations as to whether or not
this is the most appropriate measure to provide relief to veterans and their families.
Research conducted through The American Legions network of service providers
shows, that this new look back period would affect surviving spouses of veterans
who need benefits, as well as questions how VA would be able to address the increased workload of the look back period when pension centers struggle to address
their existing workload.
However, as this is a matter of concern, The American Legion continues to work
with the expertise of our service officers, membership and staff to determine a
course of action which would provide remedy in this situation. When such a remedy
is determined, then by our own resolution process our membership, will The American Legion be able to ratify a plan for taking action. Due to the complexity of the
situation, there is no consensus and therefore we can neither support nor oppose
this course of action.
S. 778
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to issue cards to veterans that

identify them as veterans, and for other purposes.
The American Legion recognizes that many states currently provide drivers licenses indicating a licensed driver is a veteran. For veterans residing in these
states, a veteran can proudly prove service to this Nation. Additionally, for retail
outlets that may offer discounts for veterans, a government sanctioned identification
card would require the necessary proof of military, naval, or air service. Some outlets no longer accept as proof of service a copy of a DD214 as the document does
not provide a photograph of the veteran.
Beyond the lack of photograph provided on a DD214 is the form itself and how
it could cause harm to the veteran through repeatedly showing the form in public.
Public review of a DD214 would reveal the veterans Social Security number and
other personal privacy information. In this age of widespread identity theft, it is
possible a veterans identity could be stolen simply through proving veterans status
at a retail outlet by displaying their DD214; so in short, it could be a heavy price
to pay due to trying to receive a discount at a retail outlet.
The American Legion has passed resolution number 43 that encourages state governments to include a veteran identifier on drivers licenses.14 A nationwide vet13 Resolution
14 Resolution
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erans card could accomplish the same goal of having identification indicating veteran status without including the veterans Social Security number.
S. 819: VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT FIRST ACT OF 2013
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to require a program of mental
health care and rehabilitation for veterans for service-related Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, or a related substance use disorder, and for
other purposes.
This bill calls for VA to start mental health treatment for veterans regardless of
whether or not they have been service-connected for a mental health condition. The
bill would prohibit veterans from seeking service connection during that period, but
would provide alternative forms of compensation to the veteran during the treatment period.
The American Legion is deeply concerned about the mental health care received
by Americas veterans. Mental health care is one of the components examined by
the System Worth Saving Task Force through our annual visits to VHA medical facilities. The American Legion maintains an Ad Hoc Committee on PTSD and TBI
to continually research new information on these concerns facing American veterans.
While The American Legion applauds efforts to get veterans into treatment, and
through resolution number 109 works to monitor the ongoing effectiveness 15 of the
Mental Health Strategic Plan of VHA, we are concerned about the lack of ability
for veterans to apply for service connection during this period. The longer a veteran
waits from discharge from service, the more difficult it can be to find appropriate
records and ultimately obtain service connection for injuries incurred or aggravated
by military service. It would be troubling to realize that a veteran could lose out
on lifetime service connection and health care for a mental health condition in the
interest of short term obtaining mental health care.
The American Legion is willing to work with Ranking Member Burr to find a way
to make this program effective without reducing a veterans rights to service connection, but cannot support the bill at this time.
The American Legion does not support this legislation.
S. 863: VETERANS BACK TO SCHOOL ACT OF 2013
To amend title 38, United States Code, to repeal time limitations on the eligibility
for use of educational assistance under All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance
Program, to improve veterans education outreach, and for other purposes.
The Montgomery GI Bill for active duty servicemembers and veterans requires
each enrolled servicemember to make a non-refundable contribution up front. In return, they can use their entitlementup to 36 monthsto help pay for education,
apprenticeship, and job training. However, the entitlement automatically expires 10
years after the veteran leaves active duty service. According to the Department of
Veterans Affairs, nearly 30 percent of eligible veterans are unable to use any of
their Montgomery GI Bill education benefits and most eligible veterans are only
able to access a portion of them before the 10-year limit is reached.
This legislation would change the expiration from 10 years after the veteran
leaves active duty service to 10 years after the veteran begins using the benefit. The
American Legion, by resolution,16 supports changes to the delimiting dates for the
Montgomery GI Bill. In addition, the provisions to support and extend offices of veterans affairs to more campuses are especially timely and relevant given the increasing number of student-veterans on campuses and their unique needs.
S. 868: FILIPINO VETERANS PROMISE ACT OF 2013
A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to establish a process to determine

II are eligible for certain benefits despite not being on the Missouri List, and for
other purposes.
This bill is aligned in purpose with S. 690, the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act.
15 Resolution
109: The Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services, AUG 2012.
301: Eliminate delimiting dates for the Montgomery GI Bill and Post-9/11 GI
Bill, AUG 2012.
16 Resolution
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S. 893: VETERANS COMPENSATION COST OF LIVING ACT OF 2013
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for annual cost-of-living
adjustments to be made automatically by law each year in the rates of disability
compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain service-connected disabled veterans.
The American Legion strongly supports a periodic cost-of-living adjustment
(COLA) for veterans reflective of increased expenses due to inflation and other factors. However, there are many factors currently being considered regarding the calculation of COLA that merit discussion.
Within The American Legions Code of Procedures, accredited representatives are
advised under no circumstances should they cause harm to veterans claims for benefits. Current provisions contained in the Presidents 2014 proposed budget, as well
as in amendments to other bills that have been introduced from time to time, would
replace the current Consumer Price Index (CPI) used to calculate increases to Social
Security COLA with a so-called Chained CPI (C-CPI). Through chaining VA benefits
to the new C-CPI and COLA for Social Security benefits, the veteran community
would indeed be harmed. On December 19, 2012, Dean Stoline, Deputy Director of
The American Legion Legislative Division, stated that a chained CPI is misguided
policy and would have significant deleterious effect on the benefits of millions of
veterans.
Chairman Sanders has provided evidence that displays the long term negative effect upon the veteran community should Congress mandate a C-CPI approach to determining COLA increases. According to a press release from Sen. Sanders office,
the proposal would cut VA disability benefits for a 30-year-old veteran by more than
$13,000 a year by age 45, $1,800 a year by age 55, and $2,260 a year by age 65.
Senior citizens who retire by age 65 would see their Social Security benefits reduced
by about $650 a year by the time they reach 75, and more than $1,000 a year when
they turn 85. These cuts would certainly place many veterans and their families
economic security in peril.
By resolution 17 The American Legion support[s] legislation to amend title 38,
United States Code, section 1114, to provide a periodic COLA increase and to increase the monthly rates of disability compensation; and * * * oppose[s] any legislative effort to automatically index such [COLA] adjustments to the [COLA] adjustment for Social Security recipients, non-service-connected disability recipients and
death pension beneficiaries. The opposition to direct and automatic connection to
the Social Security policies reflects the understanding that veterans and specifically
disabled veterans represent a unique subsection of the American community, and
their unique concerns should receive individual consideration when determining the
need for periodic increases for cost of living.
The American Legion encourages Congress to seriously examine the disastrous
long term negative consequences of C-CPI for veterans. The long-term negative effects created through permitting C-CPI for VA benefits could cause serious financial
harm to millions of veterans.
The American Legion supports an increased Cost-of-Living Adjustment for veterans, but would like to see the legislation amended to ensure veterans COLA is
protected from being changed to reflect a C-CPI model to the detriment of disabled
veterans.
S. 894
A bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to extend expiring authority for
education, or training under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to expand such authority to certain outreach services provided through congressional offices, and for other purposes
This bill is an extension of the Department of Veterans Affairs authority to offer
certain work-study allowances for student-veterans due to expire mid-year. The
American Legion has long supported the Department of Veterans Affairs work-study
program as defined through resolution number 296 18 and supports this initiative
to maintain as many of these work-study opportunities as possible.
This program provides a valuable benefit to student-veterans and that benefit is
often multiplied many times over when, for example, they are allowed to perform
17 Resolution No. 178: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Disability Compensation, AUG
2012.
18 Resolution No. 296: Support the Development of Veterans On-The-Job Training Opportunities, AUG 2004.
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outreach services to servicemembers and veterans furnished under the supervision
of a State Approving Agency employee. This is just one instance of the important
work that is accomplished by these student-veterans.
S. 922 VETERANS EQUIPPED FOR SUCCESS ACT OF 2013
A bill to require the Secretary of Labor to carry out a pilot program on providing
wage subsidies to employers who employ certain veterans and members of the
Armed Forces and require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program on providing career transition services to young veterans, and for other purposes.
When veterans return to the workforce either right off of active duty service or
after obtaining a college degree, they still face challenges in obtaining gainful employment. One of the barriers is the lack of experience in the private sector, which
is why The American Legion has passed resolutions 19 that support programs that
encourage employers to create on-the-job training (OJT) opportunities for veterans
and programs that provide financial incentives for employers who hire and provide
training for veterans. The American Legion believes that the two pilot programs
called for in this bill are complimentary to the OJT program already in place in the
Department of Veterans Affairs. The range of veterans eligible for an OJT opportunity in the private sector is increased to those that have exhausted their GI Bill
benefits and older veterans whose GI Bill benefits have expired. Further, on top of
incentivizing employers to participate, the eligibility parameters of the pilot programs allows for more corporate employers to participate.
S. 927: VETERANS OUTREACH ACT OF 2013
A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a demonstration

project to assess the feasibility and advisability of using State and local government
agencies and nonprofit organizations to increase awareness of benefits and services
for veterans and to improve coordination of outreach activities relating to such benefits and services, and for other purposes.
This legislation calls upon VA to increase outreach to the veterans of America to
utilize the services available to them. With over 22 million veterans in America, surprisingly The American Legion has found that only a fraction of those veterans utilize the services provided to them.
The American Legion is deeply committed to getting the word out to veterans
about the benefits they have earned through their hard service and sacrifice on behalf of this great Nation. With over 2.4 million members, and thousands of Posts
located in every town nationwide, our organization is uniquely positioned within the
veterans community to spread the word, but such efforts work best when in partnership with the VA. The American Legion has over a dozen resolutions calling on
greater efforts in outreach from VA in every field, from womens health care to volunteer work, and to benefits related to exposure to Agent Orange. The American
Legion is committed to working with VA to reach every corner of the veterans community.
While state and local authorities are an important component of outreach, it is
our hope VA recognizes the most important partnership for reaching veterans is
with The American Legion and with other non-profit Veterans Service Organizations.
S. 928: CLAIMS PROCESSING IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2013
A bill to improve the processing of claims for compensation under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
The purpose of this legislation is to provide a multi-faceted approach to dealing
with the claims backlog. The rising claims backlog has increasingly become a problem with the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), and the past three years
have seen the backlog leap from approximately 37 percent of all claims pending past
the target goal of 125 days to nearly 70 percent of all claims now pending over 125
19 Resolution No. 18: Authorization to Seek Grants for Training and Job Placement for Veterans.
Resolution No. 296: Support The Development of Veterans On-the-Job Training Opportunities.
Resolution No. 313: Support for the Military Transition Program.
Resolution No. 313: Support for the Military Transition Program.
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days. All of this is occurring while VA struggles to increase the accuracy of processing.
The American Legion, with over 2,600 accredited service officers nationwide, is
deep in the trenches of the war against the backlog. On a daily basis, American Legion service officers help thousands of veterans navigate the complex and convoluted
system to receive benefits they have earned by becoming disabled while serving
their country, and has recently partnered with The White House and the VA to
spearhead the Fully Developed Claim (FDC) initiative The American Legion is an
industry recognized expert in this area and has decades of experience in this area.
This bill is broad in its reach and scope, and is best addressed by breaking it
down into its component sections.
Section 101
This section directs the establishment of a working group to improve employee
work credit and work management systems. The American Legion has already submitted to Congress and the VA proposals on how the work credit system must be
fixed to include better accounting for accuracy as a measurable quantity. As it
stands now, employees receive the same credit whether work is done properly or inaccurately, and such a system must be amended to take credit away for inaccurate
work, but also to reward workers who take the necessary time to get the job done
right the first time. The American Legion has tried to work with all parties to get
a better system implemented, rather than waiting upon the work of a study group.
The sooner VA can amend their work credit system, the sooner the system can better serve veterans.
Section 102
This section directs the establishment of a task force on retention and training
at VA. Certainly VA employees have problems with retention, and the work is complicated enough that continually retraining the work force is counterproductive. The
American Legion reiterates the concern that simply appointing another task force
or study commission only further delays actual progress on remedying the issue.
Section 103
This section addresses efforts to obtain information from other Federal agencies.
The American Legion has been vocal in their concerns about the breakdown of communication between VA and DOD in combining efforts on a Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record. Rather than work on a single system which would vastly improve
communication between agencies, VA and DOD continue to walk down separate and
individual paths. Improvements in communications between VA and all Federal
agencies is an important part of the disability claims process and The American Legion supports improvements in this area.
Section 104
This section deals with recognition of the phrase Indian tribes with respect to
subsection 5902(a)(1) of Title 38 of the United States Code. The American Legion
has no position on this section.
Section 105
This section deals with creating pilot programs with tribal and local governments
to improve the claims quality of disability compensation claims. The American Legion has no position on this section.
Section 106
This section requires quarterly progress reports on the progress of VA in eliminating the backlog. The American Legion is concerned about the lack of intermediary benchmarks from VA regarding reaching their goal of 98 percent accuracy
and no claim pending longer than 125 days. Certainly some level of reporting to
show clear progress would help with what has often been a lack of transparency in
this area.
Section 201
This section would reduce the filing deadline for an appeal from one year to 180
days. The American Legion opposes any reduction in a veterans appellate rights.
Section 202
This section calls for all hearings to be conducted before the Board of Veterans
Appeals through video hearings. Although it allows for a process for a veteran to
request a personal hearing, it is unclear what the appellate rights are in this case.
The American Legion retains concerns that whatever process is in place must be
in the best interest of the veteran, and not simply a more expedient measure for
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the Board to alleviate the burden of communicating with the veteran. While there
may be some improvement in the schedule to hear from veterans, it is important
that veterans concerns must be held paramount in these decisions.
Section 301
This section extends operational authority for the Manila Regional Office. The
American Legion agrees with the importance of maintaining operations to serve veterans in the Philippines.
Section 302
This section extends the period for scheduling medical exams for veterans receiving temporary disability ratings for severe mental disorders from six months to 540
days. The American Legion has no position on this extension.
Section 303
This section extends the marriage delimiting date for surviving spouses of Persian
Gulf War veterans to qualify for death pension to a date ten years after the Persian
Gulf War ends. As long as the war remains open, this benefit and all associated benefits must be extended to reflect the ongoing nature of the conflict.
Section 304
This section adjusts effective dates for benefits eligibility based on veterans children. The American Legion has no position on this section.
Section 305
This section extends temporary authority for performing medical examinations by
contract physicians. The American Legion recognizes the importance of these contract examinations in fulfilling examinations for disability and compensation purposes, especially in the midst of the backlog. Renewal of the contracting authority
is important at this critical juncture.
The American Legion supports portions of this bill and holds no position on other
portions. The American Legion opposes reducing the appellate rights of veterans, especially as concerned in sections 201 and 202.
S. 932: PUTTING VETERANS FUNDING FIRST ACT OF 2013
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for advance appropriations
for certain discretionary accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
This bill, as is the case with the companion legislation H.R. 813 in the House of
Representatives, recognizes the importance of providing timely, predictable funding
for the Department of Veterans Affairs and would, as is the case with medical funding because of advanced appropriations, require Congress to fully fund the VA discretionary budgets a year ahead of schedule. The American Legion helped lead the
way in the fight for advance appropriations for medical funding. In the current political climate, with sequestration and budget battles lurking around every corner,
it is important to help set aside veterans funding as separate and distinct from
these battles. This is a bipartisan notion, as all Americans agree that those who
have sacrificed through their service should not bear the brunt of squabbles and political infighting.
The current budgets of VA must grapple with ongoing efforts to address infrastructure insufficiencies in construction, IT and other projects, and advance funding
would make the planning necessary to avoid undue waste possible.
The arbitrary budget axe has become a very real fear in the current political landscape. Politicians from both sides repeat the oft cited pledge not to balance the
budget on the backs of our veterans. This legislation would help protect veterans
from just such uncertainties. Resolutions of The American Legion advocate protections for advance funding for medical budgets 20 and for protecting VA from PAYGO provisions.21 It is time to ensure all of VAs budgets are protected.
S. 939
A bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to treat certain misfiled documents
as motions for reconsideration of decisions by the Board of Veterans Appeals, and
for other purposes.
The American has seen first-hand how misfiled documents can severely harm a
veteran pursuing assistance or service-connected disability recognition from the De20 Resolution
21 Resolution
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partment of Veteran Affairs. This bill attempts to help address issues of confusion,
wherein a veteran mistakenly files documents intended for the Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims (CAVC) to the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA). Many veterans
are unaware that their appellate rights transfer between branches of government,
moving from the Executive to the Judicial branch. The American Legion is intimately familiar with the appeals process, and the confusing notification letters sent
to veterans by VA, and that these documents are extremely difficult for the average
person to make sense of. Certainly for unrepresented veterans, the legal options
available to them are confusing, and may subsequently file their notice of dissatisfaction with the determination of the BVA to the incorrect entity.
The veterans disability claims process has long been recognized as uniquely proclaimant by the courts, and in this spirit, The American Legion wants the benefit
of the doubt extended to veterans at every step of the process. While more must
be done to help direct veterans to accredited representation to help make sense of
these processes, veterans should not be penalized unduly for a failure to understand
every complexity of the arduous appeals process when there is a reasonable chance
to view their claim in a favorable light.
S. 944: VETERANS EDUCATIONAL TRANSITION ACT OF 2013
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require courses of education provided
by public institutions of higher education that are approved for purposes of the AllVolunteer Force Educational Assistance Program and Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to charge veterans tuition and fees at the in-State tuition rate, and for other
purposes.
The American Legion applauds Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Burr for
joining the push to prevent public colleges and universities from charging student
veterans out-of-state tuition with the introduction of this legislation. However, we
believe S. 257, which has a companion bill that has cleared committee in the House,
should be the vehicle through which we offer our veterans reasonable in-state tuition protections while using their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
S. 944 has limitations not included in the S. 257 or the House bill which are very
disconcerting. In-state tuition would be required only for veterans who are within
two years of separation from active duty when they enroll. They would have to live
in the state while attending school. The bill would exclude those servicemembers
who served less than 180 days and qualify for 40% of Post-9/11 GI Bill funding. Finally, it would allow VA to waive in-state tuition to institutions of higher learning
if the Secretary determines such a waiver is appropriate.
These provisions concede too much to states and their public colleges and universities to the detriment of Americas veterans. Opponents of legislation to require instate rates claim that it can potentially discourage the veteran from pursuing postsecondary education altogether if states or schools choose to opt out; however, accruing huge financial burdens is more detrimental to these veterans in our view. As
public colleges and universities seek ways to recoup decreasing revenues, many have
significantly raised the costs of out-of-state tuition. The cap for GI Bill benefits often
falls short of that high out-of-state rate. Furthermore, because of the nature of military service, veterans, and beneficiaries, often have a difficult time establishing residency for purposes of obtaining in-state tuition rates. Circumstances such as these,
which oftentimes require them to live in certain areas, especially during the time
when they are separated from the uniformed services, pose significant challenges
when they wish to use this important benefit.
Critics have also said that legislation of this type sets a dangerous precedent for
other non-resident students utilizing Federal aid programs. The American Legion
strongly disagrees because military servicemembers and military veterans are the
only cohort of Americans who cannot satisfy residency requirements for in-state tuition because of circumstances beyond their control. Recognizing these unique circumstances, servicemembers are already offered this reasonable accommodation
when using military Tuition Assistance at public schools through the Higher Education Authorization Act of 2008; however, once a servicemember leaves the military
this protection goes away. Therefore, states have already conceded the point that
educating those who serve is not only a Federal financial obligation and have agreed
to make this reasonable accommodation for those currently serving. They should do
the same for our veterans for the same reasons. That states have already made arrangements to do so before also demonstrates that complaints about the obstacles
to amending state tuition laws are overblown and, in fact, disingenuous.
After all, all Americans, in every state, owe a debt of gratitude to the men and
women who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. In addition, public
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universities are nonprofit institutions that get special privileges, such as massive
Federal and state government subsidies and tax exemptions, based on the assumption that they are good stewards of the public trust. Granting in-state rates should
be seen as part of the exercise of this trust. Student-veterans face many challenges
pursuing higher education, there is no reason why obtaining in-state tuition should
be one of them. By requiring public colleges and universities that receive GI Bill
benefit payments to offer all veterans in-state tuition, Congress stays true to the
intent of the GI Bill by enabling our veterans to pursue a higher education and jobs
skills through the benefits they have earned.
We thank Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Burr for their leadership on
this issue and look forward to working with all stakeholders to ensure we can pass
reasonable in-state tuition protections for currently-enrolled GI Bill beneficiaries
and future student-veterans.
The American Legion cannot support this bill as written.
Chairman SANDERS. Thank you very much, Mr. de Planque.

Colonel Norton.
STATEMENT OF COLONEL ROBERT F. NORTON, USA (RET.),
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, MILITARY
OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
Colonel NORTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning.

First, I want to join with my colleagues in thanking you and all
the Members of the Committee and your staffs for the great work
that went into putting together this very ambitious slate of bills,
most of which we strongly support.
Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the 380,000 members of the Military
Officers Association of America, it is an honor for me to be here
today to present our views on some of the bills before you. My
statement addresses almost all of them, and I will limit my remarks to just a few of these measures.
First, S. 6, Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act, would extend transition services deadlines under the VOW to Hire Heroes
Act and for other purposes. We strongly support the bill.
As of May 1, almost 45,000 older veterans were being trained in
a career field under the VRAP program of the VOW Act. We commend the Committee and the VA for launching the program and
strongly support extending the deadlines in the legislation.
We also recommend a grandfathering provision to allow veterans
who cannot finish a licensing requirement within the 1-year period
required to be allowed to complete that licensure or certification
program, and we also suggest that 4-year colleges that offer licensing and certification programs be allowed to participate in the
VRAP.
MOAA supports S. 430, the Veteran Small Business Opportunity
and Protection Act. It would allow a surviving spouse of a servicedisabled veteran to acquire the ownership interest in a small business of the deceased veteran for purposes of eligibility for VA service-disabled, small business contracting goals and preferences.
The Careers for Veterans Act, S. 495, helps our transitioning veterans by requiring States to recognize the exceptional training and
experience provided in military service toward the award of a civilian license or certification in a comparable field. MOAA strongly
supports S. 495.
S. 629, the Honor Americas Guard and Reserve Retirees Act. Its
sole purpose is honor, to honor certain career reservists who have
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served their Nation faithfully for more than 20 years but during
that service did not perform any duty on formal active duty orders.
On Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and other days celebrating our
national heritage and honoring all those who served and sacrificed
on behalf of our country, there are tens of thousands of career National Guard and Reserve members who cannot stand up to be recognized as veterans of the Armed Forces alongside their colleagues.
S. 629 specifically prohibits the award of any veterans benefits.
Its only and exclusive purpose is honor. I think the best way to
sum up this bill is from the letter of a retired New York Army National Guard master sergeant who wrote recently, I served for 2
weeks at Ground Zero in Manhattan after the attacks on our homeland on September 11, 2001. Later I served in Germany supporting
the deployment of our forces for operations in Iraq but I am not
a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States.
On his behalf and on the behalf of tens of thousands of other career reservists MOAA strongly supports S. 629.
S. 735, the Survivor Benefits Improvement Act, addresses a longstanding MOAA goal: to allow surviving military spouses to retain
their dependency and indemnity compensation payments if they remarry after age 55, and that would make it consistent with all
other Federal survivor programs. Along with the other provisions
in this bill, we strongly support your bill, the Survivor Benefits Improvement Act.
We also support S. 928, your bill, Mr. Chairman, the Claims
Processing Improvement Act. The bill requires the VA to report on
progress toward achieving its goal of eliminating the claims backlog
by 2015 and for other purposes.
Finally, I would like to be in the Greek chorus to Senator
Merkley and Senator Heller and thank them for their leadership
in introducing S. 1039, the Spouses of Heroes Education Act.
S. 1039 would authorize Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry
Scholarships to spouses of members of the Armed Forces who died
in the line of duty after September 10, 2001.
As Senator Merkley and Senator Heller pointed out, the Fry
Scholarships provide post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for the children of
fallen members of our Armed Forces who died in the line of duty.
Unfortunately, their parents, the surviving spouses, are not eligible for them. Instead, they are left with an inferior educational assistance benefit, DEA.
Under DEA, a survivor receives only $987 per month for fulltime study, but no housing allowance and no book stipend. Without
access to the Fry Scholarships, surviving spouses of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts will have difficulty paying for the cost of an
education and better preparing their small children to use the Fry
Scholarship when they are of age. MOAA strongly supports this
bill, S. 1039, the Spouses of Heroes Education Act.
Mr. Chairman, thank you again for your leadership on these benefit issues and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Colonel Norton follows:]
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STATEMENT OF COLONEL ROBERT F. NORTON, USA (RET.), DEPUTY DIRECTOR,

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
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Chairman SANDERS. Colonel, thank you very much.

Mr. Gallucci.
STATEMENT OF RYAN GALLUCCI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE, VETERANS OF FOREIGN
WARS
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Mr. GALLUCCI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

On behalf of the VFW, the Nations largest and oldest organization of combat veterans, I want to thank you and Members of the
Committee for the opportunity to present our thoughts on todays
bills.
165
With the wars drawing down, the active duty force set to contract, and more than one million veterans expected to enter the
workforce soon, the VFW believes the Senate must do all it can to
ensure our veterans are prepared to compete in an ever-changing
civilian marketplace.
We thank the Committee for its efforts last Congress to prepare
our veterans through reforms like the VOW to Hire Heroes Act and
the Improving Transparency and Education Opportunities for Veterans Act, and we look forward to working with this Committee
this session to build on those initiatives.
For the VFWs views on each of the benefits bill on our ambitious
agenda, I refer you to my prepared remarks. For the balance of my
time, I will focus on several initiatives to protect our student
veterans.
First on S. 257, the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act. The post-9/11
GI Bill was designed to offer a free public education to eligible veterans, allowing them to treat college as a full-time job without worrying about financial stability.
Unfortunately, Student Veterans of America report that only one
out of every five veterans attending a public school can attend at
the in-state rate.
Currently, the VA can only reimburse veterans at public schools
for the cost of an in-state education, meaning veterans who do not
qualify as in-state receive meager reimbursement for college.
As a result, veterans either drop out or find other ways to pay
for college through Federal financial aid, full-time employment, or
student loans even if they make a good faith effort to legally reside
in the State and attend a public school.
Recently separated veterans may be legal residents in one State,
as my colleague Ian pointed out, but if military duty took them to
another State, they will not qualify for in-State tuition because
they have not been physically present in their home State long
enough.
Furthermore, many States require students to establish in-state
eligibility prior to enrollment, meaning current students can never
qualify regardless of their legal residency or where they have established domicile.
Critics have said that S. 257 sets a dangerous precedent for
other nonresident students utilizing Federal aid programs. The
VFW disagrees. Servicemembers and veterans are the only cohort
of Americans who cannot satisfy in-state tuition requirements because of circumstances beyond their control.
As a result, servicemembers are already offered in-State tuition
when using military tuition assistance at public schools. However,
once a servicemember leaves the military, that protection goes
away.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients should not be penalized for their honorable service when they cannot satisfy in-State tuition requirements. The VFW believes that Congress must allow these veterans
to attend at the in-state rate, which is why we proudly support
S. 257.
Next, on S. 262, the Veterans Education Equity Act, the VFW
understands that the goal of this bill is similar to S. 257, and we
thank Senator Durbin for his attention to this issue. The VFW sup-
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ported a similar bill last Congress but we have withdrawn our support this term because we believe we have better identified the
problem.
The problem is that recently separated veterans cannot meet
stringent in-state tuition requirements because of their military
service and in many cases can never attend at the in-state rate because they are already enrolled.
S. 262 seeks to increase compensation for nonresidents, but the
VFW believes that offering veterans more money only puts a BandAid on the problem. In-state tuition fixes it.
The VFW recently learned that higher education interest groups
have rallied in support of S. 262 in lieu of offering in-state tuition.
To the VFW, these groups only see veterans as dollar signs in
uniform.
We believe it would be irresponsible to put the VA and the American taxpayers on the hook for more money when we know that
these schools can and should deliver a quality education to our veterans at the in-state rate.
Last Congress this bill was a good stopgap measure that would
have lessened the financial burden on out-of-State veterans attending public schools. Unfortunately, this bill does not solve the inherent problem.
While we cannot support S. 262, we sincerely appreciate Senator
Durbins leadership on this issue, and we look forward to working
with all stakeholders on a fair solution for student veterans.
Finally, we come to your bill, S. 944, the Veterans Educational
Transition Act. As we stated in our written testimony, the VFW
consistently hears from veterans who say that financial uncertainty
is a critical barrier to finishing college, and we thank you, Mr.
Chairman, and Ranking Member Burr for your attention to this
issue by seeking to offer in-state tuition to recently separated
veterans.
While S. 944 offers some clarification on beneficiaries eligible for
in-state tuition, the VFW is concerned about how some of the restrictions will be interpreted by States, and we oppose allowing the
Secretary to waive compliance.
This is why the VFW prefers the protections offered by S. 267,
though I must clarify. We believe this is a very serious issue that
demands attention and we are willing to come to the table with all
stakeholders to craft a quality bill that protects our student veterans and offers reasonable compliance standards for schools.
I also wanted to echo my colleagues since I have 20 seconds left
and thank you for your support to killing the chained CPI idea. We
all agree that this is a reduction in benefits to our veterans and
something that we absolutely will not support.
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, Members of the Committee, this concludes my testimony and I am happy to answer any
questions you may have on any of the bills on consideration.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Gallucci follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF RYAN M. GALLUCCI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: On behalf of the men and women
of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. (VFW) and our Auxiliaries, I would like
to thank you for the opportunity to testify on todays pending legislation. As the
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wars wind down and the military plans to shrink the active duty force, VA anticipates that more than one million veterans will seek to access their earned benefits
within the next few years. The VFW applauds this Committees work to address
benefit-access and transitional issues during the last Congress and we are encouraged to see that the Committee continues to take this situation seriously.
The VFW is honored to share our thoughts on todays bills in an effort ensure our
veterans have the opportunities they have earned to succeed after leaving military
service. Specifically, our testimony will focus on nine veterans economic opportunity
bills, S. 257, S. 262, S. 492, S. 495, S. 514, S. 863, S. 894, S. 922 and S. 944. We will
also offer VFWs brief thoughts on the other bills pending before the Committee.
S. 257, GI BILL TUITION FAIRNESS ACT OF 2013
The Post-9/11 GI Bill was intended to offer a free, public education and a modest
living stipend to eligible veterans, allowing them to treat college as a full-time job
without worrying about financial stability. Unfortunately, Student Veterans of
America reports that only one out of every five veterans attending a public school
is eligible to attend at the in-state rate.
Current law only allows VA to reimburse veterans attending public schools for the
cost of an in-state education, meaning veterans who cannot qualify for in-state tuition will only receive meager reimbursement for college. This oversight forces veterans to either drop out or find other ways to pay for college through Federal financial aid programs, full time employment or amassing student loan debt even when
they make a good faith effort to legally reside in a state and attend a public school.
Specifically, recently-separated veterans may be legal residents of a particular
state, but if their military duty has taken them to an installation in another state,
they will not qualify as residents when they seek to attend a public college or university because they have not been physically present in the state long enough to
qualify as a resident for tuition purposes. Furthermore, once a veteran matriculates
to the public school of their choice, many states restrict them from establishing residency because of their status as a full-time student.
The VFW believes that Congress must allow Post-9/11 GI Bill-eligible veterans to
attend at the in-state rate, which is why we proudly support S. 257.
Critics have said that S. 257 sets a dangerous precedent for other non-resident
students utilizing Federal aid programs. The VFW vehemently disagrees with this
notion because military servicemembers and military veterans are the only cohort
of Americans who cannot reasonably satisfy residency requirements for in-state tuition because of circumstances beyond their control. Recognizing these unique circumstances, servicemembers are already offered this reasonable accommodation
when using military Tuition Assistance at public schools through the Higher Education Authorization Act. However, once a servicemember leaves the military, this
protection goes away.
Eleven states already offer in-state tuition to veterans, eight states offer conditional waivers for veterans in certain circumstances, and 16 states have legislation
pending. Of the states that have passed in-state tuition initiatives for veterans, both
Republican and Democrat state leaders have all agreed that the financial benefits
for the state far outweigh the illusory financial burdens that some in higher education believe would be detrimental to institutional budgetsparticularly since
graduates of public colleges and universities traditionally pursue careers close to
their alma mater.
When Ohio passed its in-state tuition waiver in 2009, then- Gov. Ted Strickland
said of in-state tuition, It delivers real support to veterans while helping strengthen Ohios strategic plan for higher education, which calls for attracting and keeping
talent in the state. Who better to have as part of Ohios colleges and universities,
workforce and communities than the veterans who have served, led, and protected
our country?
When Virginia passed its law in 2011, Gov. Bob McDonnell said These men and
women have served our country; it is essential that we continue to work to better
serve them. Veterans are the kind of citizens we want in the Commonwealth and
that we want as part of our workforce.
When Louisiana passed its law in 2012, Gov. Bobby Jindal said, This new law
encourages members of the U.S. militarywho are the best trained professionals in
the worldto pursue an education in our state, which will be an economic boost,
but most importantly, its yet another means for us to thank these brave men and
women for their service.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill is a Federal program designed to help our Nations heroes
acquire the skills necessary to build a successful career after military service. Our
veterans served the Nation; not a particular state. They should not be penalized for
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their honorable service when they cannot satisfy strict residency requirements for
tuition purposes. The VFW regularly hears from student-veterans who confirm that
financial uncertainty is the most significant roadblock to persistence and graduation. To combat this, it only makes sense to allow our student-veterans to attend
college at a reasonable rate when seeking to use their earned Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, and we hope the Committee moves quickly to pass this legislation.
S. 262, VETERANS EDUCATION EQUITY ACT OF 2013
The VFW understands that the goal of this bill is similar to that of S. 257. We
thank Senator Durbin for taking this issue seriously and introducing legislation that
seeks to offer more equitable reimbursement for student-veterans attending public
schools. The VFW supported this initiative in the last Congress, but we must explain why we have withdrawn support this term.
This session, we believe we have better identified the problem. The problem is
that recently-separated veterans cannot meet stringent residency requirements for
in-state tuition because of their military service, and once enrolled, they cannot legally establish residency because of their status as full-time students.
S. 262 seeks to increase the compensation veterans attending a public school as
non-residents can receive, but the VFW believes that throwing money at this problem does not solve it.
In the last few weeks, the VFW has learned that many interest groups representing higher educationparticularly public colleges and universitieshave rallied in support of S. 262 in lieu of offering in-state tuition to recently-separated veterans attending public colleges on the Post-9/11 GI Bill. To the VFW, these groups
only see our veterans as dollar signs in uniform. We believe it would be irresponsible to put VA and the American taxpayers on the hook for more money when we
know these schools can and should deliver a quality education at the in-state rate.
In the last session, this bill was a good stop-gap measure that would have lessened the financial burden on student-veterans attending public schools at the outof-state rate. Unfortunately, this bill does not solve the problem. While we cannot
support S. 262, we sincerely appreciate Senator Durbins interest in this issue and
we look forward to working with all stakeholders on a fair solution for our studentveterans.
S. 492
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to require States to recognize the
military experience of veterans when issuing licenses and credentials to veterans,
and for other purposes.
The VFW supports S. 492, and we thank Ranking Member Burr for his continued
support to closing the civilian/military licensing and credentialing gap. This bills
language is also included as a part of S. 495, but we support this initiative as a
stand-along bill as well.
This bill is a reasonable way to ensure that states will allow experienced military
professionals to sit for licensing exams, while still ensuring states have the autonomy to issue professional licenses as they see fit. States will not have to relax their
standards for professionals operating within their borders, but experienced veterans
will not be unnecessarily burdened with satisfying duplicative training
requirements.
S. 495, CAREERS FOR VETERANS ACT
The VFW supports S. 495, which is the latest iteration of Ranking Member Burrs
veterans jobs legislation from the end of last Congress.
The VFW continues to believe that this bill leverages existing resources in an effort to ensure our veterans have access to a variety of job opportunities within the
Federal Government, and that private industry has quality incentives to hire and
retain veterans.
This bill also extends additional protections for surviving spouses of veteran entrepreneurs by offering more time for survivors to continue the business as if it remained veteran-owned. The VFW has called on Congress to offer these kinds of protections for survivors and we encourage the Senate to take swift action on this.
S. 514
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide additional educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to veterans pursuing a degrees
in science, technology, engineering, math or an area that leads to employment in
a high-demand occupation, and for other purposes.
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The VFW supports S. 514, which seeks to provide additional educational assistance under the Post-9/11 GI Bill to better assist veterans pursuing a degree in
science, technology, engineering, math or an area that leads to employment in a
high-demand occupation. Currently there is high demand for jobs in these areas and
our servicemembers stand to significantly contribute to these sectors through innovation and ingenuity. Unfortunately degrees in these kinds of programs can often
cost more or last longer than other programs of education, which is why we support
giving the Secretary the discretion to allocate additional funds for students participating in such programs as deemed appropriate.
S. 863, VETERANS BACK TO SCHOOL ACT OF 2013
The VFW supports Senator Blumenthals proposal to reinstate the Veterans Education Outreach Program (VEOP). However, we do not support changing the delimiting dates on the Montgomery GI Bill, and cannot support this bill as drafted.
The VFW believes that extending Montgomery GI Bill eligibility to ten years after
first use is not a sound policy for veterans. Unlike other veterans benefits, Montgomery GI Bill beneficiaries signed a contract upon enlistment outlining the specific
terms of their GI Bill benefits. While the VFW understands that veterans have paid
into the program and that the nature of our economy has changed significantly since
the Montgomery GI Bill was signed into law, we believe this sets a bad precedent
for beneficiaries and creates unreasonable bureaucratic hurdles and unsustainable
financial burdens for those who administer the benefit.
The VFW believes a more responsible solution to close the skills gap for veterans
who are no longer entitled to VA education benefits is to extend eligibility for the
Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP), which offers up to 12 months of
Montgomery GI Bill-style benefits to unemployed veterans who are ineligible for
other VA education programs.
The VFW would support stand-alone legislation to reinstate VEOP, which served
as a critical resource for student-veterans transitioning into college life. While VA
does offer some support to veterans on college campuses through VetSuccess on
Campus, resources for this program are extremely limited and the scope of services
provided are narrow. VEOP would ensure the anticipated 1 million veterans entering academic life the in the next few years would have all of the resources necessary
to succeed on campus.
S. 894
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend expiring authority for
education, or training under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
to expand such authority to certain outreach services provided through congressional offices, and for other purposes.
This bill is an extension and expansion of VAs authority to offer work-study allowances for student-veterans. The VFW has long supported the VA work-study program and we would proudly support this initiative to extend the program. The VFW
also appreciates Chairman Sanders effort to extend the program for the offices of
Members of Congress. However, we believe that the draft bill should extend the authority to June 30, 2018, to match the extension offered in H.R. 1453.
S. 922, VETERANS EQUIPPED FOR SUCCESS ACT OF 2013
The VFW understands Chairman Sanders goal with this legislation, but we have
concerns over establishing two new government subsidy programs to hire and train
veterans. First, the VFW believes that a new pilot program for on-the-job training
(OJT) administered by Department of Labor is duplicative to VAs OJT program
particularly for the cohort of veterans 1830 outlined in this legislation.
Veterans in this age demographic are already eligible to participate in VA OJT
using their earned GI Bill benefits. Such OJT programs already have minimal bureaucratic hurdles for businesses to meet, and even officials involved in veterans
education admit that OJT is underutilized. Creating a new pilot program will only
create confusion and additional bureaucratic hurdles for both businesses and veterans that wish to participate.
Next, the VFW is worried that government subsidies to hire young veterans and
veterans near retirement age sets a bad precedent for the veterans community. The
VFW understands that these two groups of veterans have faced significant disadvantages in a down economy. However, we also believe that government subsidies
will exacerbate misconceptions that such veterans are charity cases in need of a
government hand-out for the opportunity to work.
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Instead, the VFW has leaned heavily on resources that make the business case
for hiring veterans by demonstrating how veterans can succeed in the workplace,
such as recent reports from the Syracuse University Institute on Veterans and Military Families and the Center for a New American Security.
The VFW understands that these proposals are simply pilot programs, but we believe such new programs would create further confusion for veterans seeking to
navigate the complex system of more than 18 Federal programs focusing on career
readiness for servicemembers, veterans and dependents, as reported by the Government Accountability Office in 2012.
The VFW believes that the best way to ensure veterans find meaningful careers
is to focus on professional development and credentialing while in uniform, bolstering transition services through the military Transition Assistance Program, fostering information-sharing across relevant Federal and state agencies when servicemembers separate, improving access to existing veterans employment and training
resources, and demonstrating to employers how veterans will contribute to their
workforce.
The VFW understands that Chairman Sanders is very concerned about the high
unemployment numbers facing our veterans. We thank the Chairman for his leadership on this issue and we look forward to helping move initiatives through this
Committee that will make our most at-risk unemployed veterans marketable in the
civilian workplace.
S. 944, VETERANS EDUCATIONAL TRANSITION ACT OF 2013
The VFW thanks Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Burr for their attention to this serious issue and for introducing legislation that seeks to address this
major financial burden for many of our recently-separated student-veterans. However, the VFW prefers that S. 257, which has a companion bill that has cleared committee in the House, serve as the vehicle through which we offer our veterans reasonable in-state tuition protections while using their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
The VFW applauds this bill for including protections for military dependents
using transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, since the transience of military life
often also precludes them from establishing residency for tuition purposes. We also
support limiting the scope of the bill to cover students receiving GI Bill benefits.
By adding this caveat, we ensure that schools can reasonably comply with the instate tuition policy, since they can easily identify enrolled beneficiaries. We hope to
see these provisions in any in-state tuition package that advances.
However, as drafted, this bill raises several major issues for the VFW. First, the
VFW opposes any proposition that would give the Secretary of Veterans Affairs the
discretion to waive compliance with the in-state tuition protection. School systems
will have two years to come into compliance with the policy, meaning every state
legislature will have an opportunity to address any state-specific issues caused by
the change. The VFW believes that among the states that currently say they cannot
comply, many will simply wait out the two-year compliance period and insist on an
exemption from the Secretary. While the VFW believes that noncompliance would
create a public affairs nightmare for these university systems, we can easily avoid
this by insisting that public university systems who receive GI Bill compensation
must comply with this reasonable protection for their student-veterans, as we outlined in our testimony in support of S. 257.
Next, the VFW is concerned that much of the language in S. 944 could be subject
to broad interpretation by states that would allow them to quickly charge veterans
as out-of-state students after the first semester. Specifically, Section 2(a)(3) allows
schools to require veterans to demonstrate an intent to establish residency in the
State in which the institution is located. While this seems like a reasonable accommodation, the VFW recognizes that many states preclude students living in campusowned properties from taking steps to demonstrate residency because their housing
is considered temporary. In states where this is a factor, students are precluded
from establishing domicile, registering to vote, or even changing their drivers license. The VFW can easily see a scenario where student-veterans who are forced
to live in campus housing would only receive one semester of in-state tuition before
the university deems them ineligible for failing to demonstrate intent to establish
residency. The VFW suggests either striking this section or clarifying that a letter
of intent would prove sufficient for student-veterans who cannot take other legal
steps to establish residency.
Next, the VFW worries that language limiting service to 180 continuous days of
active duty and two years post-separation excludes many veterans eligible for and
currently using Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. We recommend changing the date to 90
days to cover all Chapter 33-eligible veterans and changing the delimiting date to
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cover all years of eligibility for both Chapter 30 and Chapter 33 programs. The VFW
understands that the goal of the two-year delimiting date is to offer reasonable accommodation to transitioning servicemembers who cannot satisfy residency requirements due to military service. However, the VFW is also concerned that veterans
who currently attend under Chapter 33 will not be covered by the two-year limit,
and veterans who experience any lapse in enrollment or who enroll part time will
lose their status as in-state for tuition purposes.
We understand that the Chairman and Ranking Member have put significant effort into a comprehensive bill that will protect student-veterans, but not place an
unnecessary burden on school systems that seek to serve them. However, the VFW
is worried that this legislation as drafted would still leave many student-veterans
in a gray area, offering too much flexibility to school systems with no intention to
comply.
We thank Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Burr for their leadership on
this issue, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders to ensure we can
pass reasonable in-state tuition protections for currently-enrolled GI Bill beneficiaries and future student-veterans.
Additional Bills Under Consideration:
S. 6, PUTTING OUR VETERANS BACK TO WORK ACT OF 2013
The VFW supports this bill, which offers additional employment incentives and
opportunities for recently-separated veterans like extension of VRAP and additional
protections for veterans from employers who knowingly violate the Uniformed Servicemembers Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
S. 200
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the interment in national cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration of individuals who served in combat supports of the Armed Forces in the Kingdom of Laos
between February 28, 1961 and May 15, 1975, and for other purposes.
The VFW has no official position on this legislation.
S. 294, RUTH MOORE ACT OF 2013
The VFW strongly supports this legislation and believes that it is long overdue.
S. 294 would relax evidentiary standards for tying mental health conditions to an
assault, making it easier for Military Sexual Assault (MST) survivors to receive VA
benefits.
Current regulations put a disproportionate burden on the veteran to produce evidence of MSToften years after the event and in an environment which is often
unfriendlyin order to prove service-connection for mental health disorders.
With the extraordinarily high incidence of sexual trauma in the military and the
failure of many victims to report the trauma to medical or police authorities, it is
time Congress amends this restrictive standard.
This legislation does that by providing equity to those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, depression and other mental health diagnoses that
are often related to MST. It puts MST in line with VAs standard of proof provided
to combat veterans who suffer from PTSD.
This bill will allow those who have suffered from sexual violence in the military
to get the care and benefits they deserve. The VFW urges Congress to pass this legislation quickly, but we are also disappointed to see the House companion bill, H.R.
671, amended to only direct VA to improve its policies on Military Sexual Trauma
(MST), weakening the original intent of the bill.
S. 373, CHARLIE MORGAN MILITARY SPOUSES EQUAL TREATMENT ACT OF 2013

S. 430, VETERANS SMALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY AND PROTECTION ACT OF 2013
The VFW support S. 430 and the similar language included as part of Ranking
Member Burrs S. 495. Survivors of veteran entrepreneurs must have reasonable
protections to continue doing business as if the entity remained veteran-owned. The
VFW has called on Congress to offer these kinds of protections for survivors and
we encourage the Senate to take swift action on this either as stand-alone legislation or through S. 495.
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S. 515
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the Yellow Ribbon G.I.
John David Fry scholarship, and for other purposes.
A current statutory loophole excludes eligible dependents of a servicemember
killed in action from enhanced tuition reimbursement available through the Yellow
Ribbon Program. This simple legislative fix will provide Fry Scholarship recipients
with the same benefits as other Chapter 33-eligible beneficiaries. The VFW proudly
supports this bill and we encourage the Senate to quickly pass this legislation.
S. 572, VETERANS SECOND AMENDMENT PROTECTION ACT
The VFW supports S. 572, which would provide a layer of protection for veterans
who might be seeking or undergoing mental health care for service-related psychological disorders from losing their Second Amendment right. Adding a provision that
will require a finding through the legal system that the veterans condition causes
a danger to him or herself or others will prevent a veterans name from being automatically added to Federal no-sell lists.
S. 629, HONOR AMERICAS GUARD-RESERVE RETIREES ACT OF 2013
The VFW strongly supports this legislation, which would give the men and women
who chose to serve our Nation in the Reserve component the recognition that their
service demands. Many who serve in the Guard and Reserve are in positions that
support the deployments of their active duty comrades to make sure the unit is fully
prepared when called upon. Unfortunately, some of these men and women serve at
least 20 years and are entitled to retirement pay, TRICARE, and other benefits, but
are not considered a veteran according to the letter of the law. Passing this bill into
law will grant Guard and Reserve retirees the recognition their service to our country deserves.
Critics are concerned that this bill will allow Guard and Reserve retirees to legitimize claims for other veterans benefits like health care or education moving forward. The VFW disagrees because such retirees are already eligible to participate
in military health care programs after age 65; they are still entitled to file a disability claim for injuries sustained during military duty; and they already have access to VA education programs like the Montgomery GI Bill Reserve Select or even
the Post-9/11 GI Bill contingent on the nature of their military service.
S. 674, ACCOUNTABILITY FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013
The VFW supports this bill, which will require other Federal agencies to promptly
respond to a Secretary of Veterans Affairs request for information that will assist
in adjudicating a VA claim for benefits. VA is held under focused scrutiny for the
slow processing of claims for benefits. This bill will require agencies to provide VA
with requested information within 30 days or provide a rationale and an estimated
time of delivery. In passing this legislation, other agencies can be held accountable
for any delays that are caused by their slow response for information required to
adjudicate a claim.
S. 690, FILIPINO VETERANS ACT OF 2013

S. 695, VETERANS PARALYMPIC ACT OF 2013
The VFW believes that rehabilitation through sports fosters healthy living, physical fitness, and a competitive spirit for our disabled veterans, many of whom have
suffered catastrophic injuries in the line of duty. VFW Posts and Departments
around the country consistently support rehabilitative sports in their communities,
which is why we are proud to support extending VAs collaboration with United
States Paralympics, Inc. through 2018.
By supporting responsible rehabilitative sports initiatives like those provided by
the U.S. Paralympic Team, the VFW believes that combat-wounded veterans will
not simply overcome their injuries, but also discover new personal strengths and
abilities.
S. 705, WAR MEMORIAL PROTECTION ACT OF 2013
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S. 735, SURVIVOR BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2013
The VFW is happy to support Chairman Sanders bill to expand Federal assistance to the nearly 350,000 surviving spouses and children receiving benefits from
VA. Extending supplemental Disability Indemnity Compensation (DIC) payments to
survivors with children from two years to five years gives survivors reasonable time
to adjust to what is often a very difficult financial period in their lives.
By allowing those who remarry after age 55 to retain DIC, healthcare, housing
and educational assistance, this bill fulfills a longstanding VFW goal to level the
playing field for survivors of fallen servicemembers and other survivors who receive
Federal benefits. Current law cancels benefits if a surviving spouse remarries before
age 57.
The VFW also supports expanding spina bifida care to children whose parents
served during the Vietnam era, but would recommend striking exposure to herbicide agents and replacing it with service in Thailand as the qualifier for benefits.
We believe making this small change will lessen the burden of proof and offer timely
access to health care, compensation and supportive services for affected children.
Finally, the VFW supports creation of a pilot program to provide grief counseling
in retreat settings for surviving spouses. The retreat setting offers a unique and
therapeutic environment for peer-to-peer support while helping to provide participants with the necessary tools to manage grief and begin the healing process. VFW
has heard positive stories from a similar pilot program involving women veterans,
and we are happy to support the same goals for those who lost a loved one on active
duty.
S. 748, VETERANS PENSION PROTECTION ACT
The VFW supports the passage of S. 748. Current law allows VA pension claimants to transfer assets to lower their net worth prior to applying for pension benefits. Other means-tested assistance programs have a look-back period that prevents a claimant from disposing of assets below fair market value.
Because there is disparity between the programs, veterans who are seeking pension benefits from VA can put themselves into a penalty period, precluding them
from receiving assistance from programs like Medicaid for up to three years when
applying for other assistance programs. Since VA lacks a look-back, veterans are
being solicited by financial institutions that state they can shelter assets and assist
in successfully claiming VA pension. In many cases, these institutions are charging
large service fees and in some cases placing the veterans assets into annuities that
cannot be accessed during their expected lifetime without withdrawal fees.
GAO released a report in June 2012, outlining the need for VA to adopt a lookback period when determining eligibility for VAs need-based pension. This bill
would provide for a three-year look back and penalty period that could not exceed
36 months. In passing this legislation, VA will protect veterans from falling victim
to aggressive marketing that can diminish their assets and prevent them from receiving other finical assistance when they need it most.
S. 778
A bill to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to issue cards to veterans

that identify them as veterans, and for other purposes.
The VFW opposes the passage of S. 778, a bill to authorize the Secretary of VA
to issue ID card to any veteran for use as validation of veteran status. The VFW
believes that states are better suited to provide veterans with identification that
verifies veteran status. Forty-three states already provide or are in the process of
providing a veteran designation on state-issued drivers licenses or state issued
non-drivers license ID cards. The infrastructure already exists within each states
Department of Motor Vehicles to provide picture identification to its citizens, whereas the VA would have to expand its capability to accommodate the increase in veteran requests for an ID card. The VFW encourages the remaining seven states to
pass legislation to provide for veterans status on their existing state-issued drivers
licenses and ID cards.
S. 819, VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT FIRST ACT OF 2013
The VFW does not support this legislation which would create a program of mental health care and rehabilitation for veterans who are diagnosed by a VA physician
with service-related PTSD, depression or anxiety. Those who comply with the treatment regimen of the program would be paid a stipend during participation, not to
exceed a total of $11,000. Although the VFW appreciates the effort to offer a new
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approach to solving the difficult problem of mental health rehabilitation, we feel
that this legislation contains serious flaws.
The VFW does not support the idea of asking veterans not to submit applications
for disability compensation while participating in the program. Even with the payments for treatment that this bill would provide, we cannot support legislation that
will require veterans to temporarily forgo any benefits to which they may be entitled. This is especially true in the case of a veteran who would ultimately receive
a high rating for a mental health disorder, even after completing the program. The
total monetary value of the wellness stipend could potentially be far less than that
of an award of service-connected disability compensation, harming the veteran
financially.
S. 868, FILIPINO VETERANS PROMISE ACT

S. 889, SERVICEMEMBERS CHOICE IN TRANSITION ACT OF 2013
The VFW recently testified in support of the House companion, H.R. 631, and we
are proud to support Senator Boozmans bill. S. 889 reflects the changes recently
passed by the House Veterans Affairs Committee, clarifying that Department of Defense (DOD) must deliver the education component of the military Transition Assistance Program (TAP) to all interested transitioning servicemembers.
The VFW has long served as a vocal advocate for student-veterans, and we believe
that TAP plays a critical role in ensuring that transitioning servicemembers are
academically and financially prepared for college. The VFW has been generally satisfied with the newly-developed education curriculum for TAP, but we are concerned
that the military had no plans to adequately deliver the training to those who need
it, since participation in individualized tracked curricula will neither be mandatory,
nor will sufficient staff be provided.
DOD has instead decided that servicemembers will need to meet career readiness
standards in the track of their choice, including education. To the VFW, this does
not satisfy the VOW to Hire Heroes Act mandate to deliver assistance in identifying employment and training opportunities, help in obtaining such employment
and training * * * in accordance with title 10, U.S.C., 1144 (a), since the goal
of veterans education benefits is to train veterans to enter the job market.
DOD insists that it is building a life cycle model for military professional development that will include education goals, but the VFW remains concerned that the
new model will still fail to adequately prepare servicemembers for civilian life. We
prefer the model set forth in S. 889, which acknowledges the finite timeframe services can dedicate to preparing separating servicemembers for civilian life, but also
ensures potential student-veterans can make knowledgeable college choices.
S. 893, VETERANS COMPENSATION COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2013
Disabled veterans, their surviving spouses and children depend on their disability
and dependency and indemnity compensation to bridge the gap of lost earnings and
savings that the veterans disability has caused. Each year, veterans wait anxiously
to find out if they will receive a cost-of-living adjustment. There is no automatic
trigger that increases these forms of compensation for veterans and their dependents. Annually, veterans wait for a separate Act of Congress to provide the same
adjustment that is automatic to Social Security beneficiaries.
The VFW supports this legislation that will bring parity to VA disability and survivor recipients compensation by providing a COLA beginning December 1, 2013, so
long as VA disability, pension and survivor benefits continue to be calculated with
the currently used Consumer Price IndexW, and not change the calculations for
these adjustments to the ChainedConsumer Price Index.
S. 927, VETERANS OUTREACH ACT OF 2013
The VFW often hears from veterans who are confused by the dearth of information about veterans benefits, veteran-specific services, and community resources.
Since 2001, thousands of new non-profit and community organizations have popped
up, seeking to meet the needs of servicemembers, veterans and their families. Some
provide tremendous resources and services, like the Wounded Warrior Project, Student Veterans of America, Fisher House, Team Rubicon, or Team Red White and
Blue. Others have rightfully come under fire from charity watchdogs for seeking to
exploit the good will of the American people.
Saturation of the marketplace and the availability of information through online
and social channels have left many veterans confused. The VFW and our partners
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in the veterans community have seen this before and we proudly help any veteran
who reaches out navigate this complex system to the best of our ability. But we
cant do it alone.
Chairman Sanders bill would insist that the Federal Government take a hard
look at how it disseminates information about veteran-specific services to the men
and women who need it. It seeks to improve coordination among Federal, state and
community resources to ensure that information can be delivered in a timely manner. The VFW believes these efforts are long overdue and we are proud to support
this legislation, and continue our work with Federal, state and local agencies who
seek to inform veterans of the programs and services designed to serve them.
S. 928, CLAIMS PROCESSING IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2013
The VFW generally supports the concept of this bill and we thank Chairman
Sanders for his attention to the VA disability claims backlog. The current wait times
to process VA disability claims remains woefully insufficient, and the VFW has consistently testified for nearly 20 years that the disability claims backlog demands
leadership and decisive action.
We support many of the provisions in this bill, such as creating a study group
to evaluate how VA administers work credit for claims processors, establishing a
task force on training and retention for raters, providing education and training for
transitioning servicemembers to assist in claims-processing, and streamlining how
VA acquires military records.
However, the VFW has several concerns about the current bill. First, the VFW
opposes reducing a veterans appeal period from one year to 180 days. To the VFW,
this clerical change will not affect the backlog, since rated claims are no longer considered pending. Instead, this will only hurt veterans who wish to appeal their rating decisions, and only further exacerbate VA bureaucratic hurdles when veterans
seek exemptions from the 180-day filing period.
Next, the VFW wants to clarify that when VA requests records from the military,
VA must summarize why they stop development after a second attempt to acquire
records.
Next, the VFW worries that formally adopting VAs 125-day backlog goal, while
ambitious, does not accurately reflect the steps required for proper claim development in certain circumstances. We also believe that is unnecessary to formally codify pending, since this is already defined in VA regulations and introduces an unnecessary redundancy in the code.
S. 930
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, in cases of overpayments of educational assistance under Post-9/11 Educational Assistance, to deduct amounts for repayment from the last months of educational assistance entitlement, and for other purposes.
The VFW supports this bill, which would protect student-veterans from facing significant financial hardships and allow a student veteran to charge their individual
overpayment to entitlement. A student-veterans enrollment status can change
month to month by adding or dropping units, or based on an institutions academic
calendars. When these payments change so frequently, lack of due process and poor
communication does not allow the veteran a reasonable path to understand whether
or not they have received an overpayment in a timely manner.
The VFW understands that VA overpayments must be recouped in order for benefit programs to work efficiently, but the VFW is also concerned that debt collections
for a benefit as complicated as the Post-9/11 GI Bill can cause significant financial
hardships for both veterans and their schools. Organizations representing school
certifying officials, like the National Association of Veterans Program Administrators (NAVPA), report that VAs assignment of debt collections to schools and students, as well as erroneous offsets have been inconsistent across the board.
By allowing VA to tack debts to the end term of a benefit, we offer veterans the
flexibility to continue attending without facing potential financial hardships.
While the VFW supports this bill, we also recognize that this is just a stop-gap
measure to protect student-veterans, but does not tackle the major issue through
which schools and veterans report that VA poorly communicates the results of an
assigned overpayment from the Regional Processing Office in a timely manner and
can result in the recoupment of other Federal funds from schools through the Treasurys tax offset program which in turn may result in the school reassigning the debt
to the student and/or placing a veterans credit in jeopardy. Either way the student
veterans educational goals are in jeopardy. VA must clarify its policies on debt collections. Debt notices must be clear and both veterans and schools should be able
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to take quick steps to resolve any outstanding debts. We look forward to working
with the Committee to resolve this issue in an equitable way that not only protects
veterans and schools, but also ensures VA can properly administer its benefit programs in a responsible manner.
S. 932, PUTTING VETERANS FUNDING FIRST ACT OF 2013
The VFW is proud to support this bill, which is a companion to H.R. 813. In
March, VFW Commander-in-Chief John Hamilton made the case for why Congress
needed to offer advance appropriations for all VA programs. Advance appropriations
would prevent disruptions or delays to existing or proposed programs and services
that occur when budgets are not passed in a timely manner. As we have seen with
Advance Appropriations for VAs medical care accounts, when VA knows how much
funding they will receive, they can better plan and more responsibly spend their annual budget. By including all accounts under Advance Appropriations, building
projects will not be halted, IT development will not be delayed and essential services
and staffing levels will not be threatened by arbitrary cutbacks.
S. 935, QUICKER VETERANS BENEFITS DELIVERY ACT
The VFW supports the intent of this legislation, but we have serious concerns
with the bill as written. The VFW supports the provision to mandate VAs acceptance of private medical evidence that is competent, credible, probative, and otherwise adequate for purposes of making a decision on a claim. However, we believe
that the bill must also clarify that VA must not order an additional exam for the
veteran unless VA has provided a thorough explanation as to why the private medical evidence proved insufficient for establishing service connection and determining
a rating.
Next, the VFW understands and supports the goal of lowering the threshold with
which VA can deliver temporary disability ratings for veterans, but we believe the
concept in this bill requires further development. The VFW believes that this bill
would unintentionally incentivize VA to deliver temporary disability ratings with no
required follow-up. The bill currently also exempts VA from considering claims with
a temporary rating as backlogged for the purposes of reporting to Congress.
The VFW understands that the wait time for disability rating decisions remains
a national embarrassment that demands innovative solutions. We thank Senator
Franken for his attention to this issue and his continued support of our veterans.
Though we cannot support this bill in its current form, we look forward to working
with Senator Franken to craft a bill that will best serve the needs of our disabled
veterans.
S. 938, FRANCHISE EDUCATION FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013
The VFW is proud to support this bill, which will allow veterans to tap into their
earned education benefits for established professional development programs offered
by franchisors. The VFW has long held that the GI Bill is a professional development tool designed to help veterans secure the skills necessary to succeed in the
marketplace. Allowing veteran franchisees to use their earned education benefits for
legitimate industry training seems like a reasonable extension of non-degree professional training already offered through the GI Bill.
However, the VFW must ensure that State Approving Agencies, which already approve or disapprove on-the-job training and apprenticeship programs for GI Bill eligibility, also have oversight in approval and disapproval of franchise education programs to ensure training is relevant and necessary for the success of the franchisee.
Veterans, by nature, are more entrepreneurial than their civilian counterparts,
and veterans who own franchises are more likely to succeed than civilian
franchisees. Considering both of these factors, providing educational resources for
veterans to operate their own franchises is a reasonable way to not only encourage
business ownership among veterans, but also a way to foster success and build the
economy with proven leaders.
S. 939
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to treat certain misfiled documents
as motions for reconsideration of decisions by the Board of Veterans Appeals, and
for other purposes.
When a veteran seeks to appeal his or her rating decision with the Board of Veterans Appeals, paperwork must be filed with the board in a timely manner. If the
veteran fails to file within the designated time period, their motion to reconsider
will be dismissed by the board. However, many times the paperwork is confusing
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and veterans will mistakenly seek to file their motion to reconsider with the VA regional office of original jurisdiction for the claim. When this happens, the regional
office must process the paperwork and forward it to the Board within the allotted
time or the veterans motion will be dismissed. To avoid this unreasonable burden
on veterans who make a good faith effort to file a motion for reconsideration before
the deadline, the VFW agrees that misfiled documents postmarked within the allotted time should also be treated by the Board as a motion for reconsideration. The
VFW is proud to support this bill.
S. 1039, SPOUSES OF HEROES EDUCATION ACT:
The Marine Gunnery Sgt. John D. Fry Scholarship Program offers the surviving
children of fallen servicemembers the opportunity to earn a quality education. This
bill would expand Fry Scholarship opportunities to surviving spouses and the VFW
is proud to support this initiative. Military spouses often must sacrifice careers of
their own to support the service obligations of their loved ones. By extending this
kind of educational opportunity to a surviving spouse, we demonstrate our commitment to serving not only the servicemember, but also the one ones they may leave
behind.
S. 1042, VETERANS LEGAL SUPPORT ACT OF 2013
While the VFW understands the intent of this bill, we cannot support it as written. We have concerns about VA using funds from its Medical Services accounts to
fund higher education programs. The VFW would prefer to see states that offer veterans treatment courts to work with law schools to provide legal resources to
veterans.
S. 1058, CREATING A RELIABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR VETERANS DEPENDENTS ACT
While VA has made considerable progress in mitigating the factors that contribute
to veteran homelessness, the problem continues to disproportionately affect the veterans community. Sadly, veterans of the current conflicts are experiencing homelessness in different ways.
The VFW supports this legislation as an additional resource in the fight to end
homelessness among veterans. Recent statistics show that the number of homeless
women veterans and homeless veterans with children are on the rise. Current VA
programs do not provide adequate services for veterans with dependent children,
leaving many without access to resources critical to finding and maintaining permanent housing.
Senator Hellers and Senator Murrays legislation would allow those who qualify
as a grant recipient under Section 2011 of title 38, U.S.C. to also receive funding
to furnish care for a dependent of a homeless veteran. By providing per diem payments for a dependent you will allow the veteran time needed to begin receiving
supportive services designed to help them achieve stability, increase employment
skills, and obtain greater independence.
VFW believes this is a wonderful example of how to strengthen partnerships within the community to help meet the goal of ending homelessness by 2015, and we
urge the Committee to pass this bill quickly.
Committee, this concludes my statement and I am happy to answer any questions
you may have.
Chairman SANDERS. Well, let me begin by thanking you all not

only for your excellent testimony this morning but for your years
of service for veterans in this country.
What I have believed from day one when I assumed this position
is that we cannot be successful unless we fully understand the
problems and that we work with the service organizations who represent millions of veterans to try to find solutions for those problems. That is what we are going to do and that is what we are
going to continue to do.
So, we may not be able to do everything everybody wants but I
think, as I have heard this morning, you are aware that we are
working on a very ambitious set of legislation and we are going to
continue to do that.
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We are holding a markup in about a month to go over some of
these issues. We will be continuing our progress into next year.
But, at the end of the day, I want to do my best with this Committee to make sure that within our limited financial resources, acknowledging that we cannot do everything we want to do.
We have a long list of every one of the issues that are of concern
to the veterans community and do our best to address them all,
health care, benefits, et cetera.
Let me start off by touching on an issue that some of you have
touched on. I know you have gone on to other areas, important
areas, as welleducation, et ceterabut, I want to get back to the
issue that we have perhaps heard most about in the last year and
that is the backlog of claims.
My question is very simple. Do you believe the VA is making
progress in addressing this very serious problem?
Mr. Hall, why do you not begin.
Mr. HALL. We believe that the VA is making progress, but we
simply cannot ascertain the amount of progress that they have
made because we have not been provided any type of milestone
data.
Chairman SANDERS. As you know, that is exactly what we want
to be able to do.
Mr. de Planque.
Mr. DE PLANQUE. I would absolutely like to associate myself with
that. I am recalling the famous expression, in God we trust, all
others we verify. I mean I think there has been a very strong good
faith effort by the VA. I think they are working very hard. We have
had excellent discussions with some of the people in this room. The
dialog
Chairman SANDERS. Sorry to interrupt you. Do you feel you have
access to the VA? Have you been able to give your views about
where we should be going to the VA?
Mr. DE PLANQUE. Our staff has been able to communicate very
well generally with the VA. However, in terms of having bench
marks, milestones; are we meeting markers; what is the plan; what
is the plan if we are going to get down to this 125 days and 98 percent accuracy.
If we are here, where do we need to be in 3 months from now,
where do we need to be 6 months from now, where do we need to
be a year from then? Those sorts of things we have not seen, but
in terms of when we have a question we try to raise it and speak
to the VA, it would be wrong to say that they are not communicative. They have been very communicative and they have tried to
work with us.
The American Legion worked closely with VA and other groups
who have worked with them on the fully developed claims process
which has made an impact in processing time on some of the
claims.
So, there are definitely ways that they are communicating with
us. They are taking input. We would like to see more in terms of
putting out benchmarks showing that they are reaching those
markers and that some of the errors of the past are not made.
Chairman SANDERS. You know, that is exactly what our legislation proposes to do.
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Colonel Norton, are we making progress or not?
Colonel NORTON. Yes, we are making progress. They are making
progress, Mr. Chairman, but we continue to point out that the long
pole in the tent is the electronic medical record or the lack thereof.
We still need that. It is not there yet.
I would point out in commenting on the VA panel earlier that
four out of every ten of initial claims that are coming into the VA
today are from members of the National Guard and the Reserve.
In a recent hearing, General Hickey, in response to a question
from Senator Tester, pointed out that there were, in her words,
complications with getting National Guard and Reserve records.
So, we would like more information about the so-called DOD
guarantee that by the end of this calendar year the records, the
medical records, will be certified complete and available for adjudication.
We want to see that for the entire force, not just for the active
duty force because so many of our National Guard and Reserve
members, tens of thousands of them, have served two, three, and
even four tours of active duty. They deserve the same speedy treatment as everybody else in the total force team.
Chairman SANDERS. How has your relationship been with the
VA? Are they listening to what you have to say?
Colonel NORTON. Yes, they are listening. We have, I would say,
a very good relationship. There are regular meetings with senior
VA officials. They welcome us in. They listen to our thoughts. They
provide good information. We support the team that is in place.
But we, too, join with our colleagues in wanting to see specific
measurements set out to meet production and quality goals month
to month as we move toward 2015.
Chairman SANDERS. We agree with you.
Mr. Gallucci.
Mr. GALLUCCI. Thank you, Chairman Sanders.
The VFW agrees with our partner organizations here at the table
that the situation is improving. We also echo calls for specific
benchmarks for how VA intends to meet its 2015 goal.
Specifically, we also support improving the information flow from
the Department of Defense. One of our concerns was the announcement from DOD that they are going to once again solicit a new integrated health care record.
Our concern is also that theyve guarantee to deliver electronically by the end of the year certified complete health care records.
Our concern is if they deliver this electronically is it in PDF format
or is it in a format that VA can easily read through its Vista
system?
This seems to be a major problem for the military. I have seen
it with colleagues of mine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan
when their files go missing or when they cannot acquire them from
DOD in a timely manner.
Chairman SANDERS. During your testimony, Mr. Gallucci, you
and others touched on the higher education problems that we are
having with tuition issues which I do not want to get into now. We
take what you have said seriously.
Let me move to employment, which is a big issue. The bottom
line, briefly, starting with Mr. Hall, what would you like to see us
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do to make sure that we improve capabilities in terms of getting
jobs for returning servicemembers?
Mr. HALL. Well, I think there is a lot of pretty good legislation
that is geared at that and we would like to see that, you know, continue in that way; but I think the one thing that I would like to
comment on specifically is the Transition Assistance Program in
the military because that is where it starts. That would be the first
leg of many steps that they have to do.
Chairman SANDERS. Are we making progress through that program? Is it an improved program?
Mr. HALL. According to our transition service officers there at
military installations, there are improvements being made but I
think there is still a lot of work left to do in that regard.
Chairman SANDERS. Mr. de Planque.
Mr. DE PLANQUE. In terms of, is the transition program better
than the one I went through in 2005; it is head and shoulders
better.
Is there still room for improvement? Absolutely. But I think that
is an area that is being worked on and I think that is something
essential in terms of that hand off. I think that is one of the reasons a lot of us have spoken about the GI Bill and tuition and the
fact that protection of the in-state tuition rates goes away the second you step out of these services. That is kind of critical and we
have seen a lot of examples with that.
Making more on-the-job training robust would be another thing,
you know, that we would like to see improvements toward. I think
that there are a lot of efforts toward that. I think managing that
transition handoff is very important, but also not forgetting those
servicemembers who transitioned 2 years ago and are still looking
for work.
You know, we have to find ways to double back and make sure
that we are not missing those people as they slip off of the statistics because, obviously, the longer you stay unemployed the more
difficult it is to get back into the workforce.
It is a terribly difficult thing to go through and I know a number
of people who have gone through it, particularly people who have
served in the Guard and Reserve. We have talked about the Guard
and the Reserve and having to keep one foot in the civilian world
and one foot in the military world and constantly get jerked back
and forth between those two places.
It is difficult to find employers who are going to stick with you
through that. They are not going to say it up front that they are
not hiring you because they are not happy about the possibility of
losing an employee for a year but that certainly exists out there,
so we need to look into more of those aspects, as well.
Chairman SANDERS. Thanks.
Colonel Norton.
Colonel NORTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me preface my
comment on the employment situation by saying that we have had
in MOAA a very robust career transition services capability for
many, many years.
Last year, we conducted hundreds of workshops for all grades,
not just officers, around the country and we provided counseling for
about 10,000 military men and women.
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One of the things we emphasize is that it is not just about converting the military skill equally into some civilian skill. It is also
about acquiring broader skills that help you transition into the civilian work force.
That is why we believe that your bill, S. 922, has potential. We
do believe that it would have to be closely monitored. The pilot programs that are being set up certainly offer a great opportunity for
our young veterans and our older veterans, as well, to gain or regain exposure and experience in the civilian workplace.
It is a different environment all together than what they have
experienced on active duty. Many of these young men and women
enter the Armed Forces at age 18. They have never had civilian
work experience.
So, at the end of the day, it is about gaining a whole range of
civilian-related skills and exposure that will then help to enable
them to move forward.
We would like to see your bill used in conjunction with the VOW
to Hire Heroes Act and the GI Bill, in other words, basically making it a work-study program. But we think you are headed in the
right direction on that legislation.
Chairman SANDERS. Colonel, thank you very much.
Mr. Gallucci.
Mr. GALLUCCI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
There are a few points that we consistently hit on. We touched
on many of them in our testimony on ways to improve the employment situation for veterans. One would be to extend and improve
the VRAP program.
As my colleague, Colonel Norton, said, improving it to open access to 4-year institutions and also allowing eligible veterans to use
it for certain kinds of remediation.
We have heard a number of great success stories of veterans who
have taken advantage of VRAP but we have also heard stories of
veterans who have hit bumps in the road in accessing their
benefits.
An example that I used in my testimony was in Erie, Pennsylvania, where the University of Pennsylvania, Erie Campus, serves
as a de facto community college. There are no community colleges
in the area so VRAP-eligible veterans are fairly limited in the
kinds of programs that they can access.
In addition to that, examining VAs on-the-job training and apprenticeship program in addressing your bill, S. 922, we did have
some disagreement on the approach that it took.
Our main concern is the duplicity in a pilot program for on-thejob training and apprenticeships with what already exists at VA.
But, that being said, it has come to our attention that in States
like your homestate, Vermont, there is one person responsible for
approving education programs who also has the collateral duty of
approving on-the-job training and apprenticeship programs which
means that their reach is very limited. Their capacity to approve
those programs is also very limited so it does warrant looking at
other options to make sure that veterans have those kind of opportunities.
Next, I want to build on what my colleague Jeff said about the
Transition Assistance Program. It has certainly improved but our
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main concern is access to those resources once a servicemember
has left active duty.
We know that the Committee managed to move a pilot program
to offer those resources to veterans after they leave the military
last session. But, we want to make sure when we are talking about
the transition GPS and the military life cycle of transition that we
also take into account that many servicemembers do not know the
kinds of problems they are going to face until they physically leave
the military. You cannot anticipate all the challenges that you will
face.
So, our recommendation to the Department of Defense, VA,
Labor, and the other relevant agencies has consistently been to ensure that the veterans can access these resources whether it is the
TAP briefings or the TAP modules after service even if it is
through something as simple as the eBenefits portal.
Finally, ease of access to the tax credits and consistently working
to build a career-ready force as my colleague, Colonel Norton, said
in making sure that servicemembers can acquire skills that will
translate once they leave the military.
Chairman SANDERS. Gentlemen, thank you very much for your
testimony and your response to the questions. I do not need you to
answer this publicly but as a favor I want you to be thinking about
if we are going to improve and expand existing programs, we need
money to do that; and one of the ways that I hope to find funds
is I need your help in telling us what programs, in your judgment,
are no longer working at the VA, no longer efficient.
I need your help basically to tell us where there is waste. We are
looking at a budget of almost $150 billion. Not every nickel there
is spent as effectively as it can be.
So as the world changes, we want the VA to change and become
more efficient but I need your help to identify those areas as well.
OK?
Gentlemen, thank you very much for being here today.
This meeting is now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:01 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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A P P E N D I X
PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHNNY ISAKSON,

U.S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA
I would like to thank Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Burr for holding
this hearing on pending benefits legislation. I remain committed to ensuring that
the United States lives up to the promises we have made to our Nations service
men and women. The members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and other
colleagues have worked diligently to address the needs of veterans from all eras,
and I look forward to marking up these bills in the near future.
Of course, when we talk about veterans benefits we must make sure that they
are delivered in a timely manner to the veterans and their families. I continue to
have concerns regarding the VA disability claims backlog, and I think the current
situation is inexcusable. I will work with my colleagues on the Committee to ensure
that any claim submitted is decided in a timely and accurate manner.
I would like to highlight a few bills that I have cosponsored and think will help
address some of the needs veterans have.
I would like to thank Chairman Sanders for introducing S. 893, the Veterans
Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013. As compensation payments
are based on the Consumer Price Index and historically tied to adjustments made
to Social Security, I am proud to cosponsor this bill, which ensures veterans will
receive a cost-of-living adjustment, too. I believe it is important that veterans are
given proper compensation for the sacrifices made in service to our country, and am
glad all of the Committee members have shown a similar commitment.
Next, I am an original cosponsor of S. 495, the Careers for Veterans Act of 2013,
introduced by Ranking Member Burr. I believe we must enable servicemembers to
translate the valuable skills they honed during their military service into successful
civilian careers. It is important that the Federal Government be a model employer
of veterans, and this bill requires that Federal agencies use the Veterans Recruitment Appointment authority to hire no fewer than 10,000 veterans into existing vacancies. The VA and the Department of Defense already use VRA extensively, and
I think the rest of the Federal Government could benefit from it as well. This bill
also enables veterans to use their military training to acquire credentials and licenses administered by the states. It requires states to develop examinations for the
credentials and licenses for veterans to take without additional training or apprenticeships if they meet certain criteria. I believe that this bill will help veterans use
their skills as effectively in the civilian workforce as they did during their military
service.
I am happy to continue my support of the disabled veterans training or competing
for the U.S. Paralympic Team. There are four grantees in the state of Georgia doing
good work for disabled veterans. I am happy to cosponsor this bill and thank Senator Boozman and Senator Begich for introducing the bill this Congress.
Finally, I am an original cosponsor of S. 705, the War Memorial Protection Act
of 2013. Our military has always fought to protect the rights enshrined in Constitution and the Bill of Rights, including the freedom to express religious beliefs. This
bill would ensure that religious symbols, regardless of affiliation, are allowed to be
part of military memorials that commemorate those who served or paid the ultimate
price in service to their country.
PREPARED STATEMENT
BY
HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO, U.S. SENATOR
FROM
HAWAII
Thank you Chairman Sanders for your remarks.

Today we will be considering a number of bills related to veterans benefits. Our
Nations veterans answered the call to duty and served and sacrificed in defense of
liberty and freedom. Support for servicemembers and their families, whether on ac(183)
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tive duty, during the transition back home, or as they settle into civilian life as veterans, is our countrys responsibility.
While I have cosponsored a number of bills before the Committee today aimed to
help fulfill our obligation to our Nations veterans, I would like to focus on legislation related to Filipino World War II Veterans.
I want to associate myself with the testimony of my colleague from Hawaii, Senator Schatz, in support of S. 690, the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act.
Filipino veterans, many of whom live in Hawaii, are those that answered the call
of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served honorably alongside our Armed
Forces during World War II. They fought shoulder to shoulder with American servicemen; they sacrificed for the same just cause.
President Roosevelt made a promise to provide full veterans benefits to those who
served with our troops but Congress denied these rights in passing the 1946 Rescission Act. And while we have made appreciable progress, we have not yet achieved
the full equity that Filipino veterans deserve.
S. 690 would deem service in the organized military forces of the Government of
the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to have been active
service for purposes of benefits under programs administered by the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA).
I want to thank the Military Officers Association of America for their support and
urge my colleagues to support S. 690.
I recognize the concerns voiced by the VA and others on this bill and want to state
that as a policymaker I think we should consider multiple proposals and ways to
provide equity to these veterans.
I also wish to speak in support of S. 868, the Filipino Veterans Promise Act, I cosponsored with Sen. Heller which seeks to resolve issues surrounding the implementation of the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund.
The bill would establish a process to determine whether individuals claiming certain service in the Philippines during World War II are eligible for compensation
from the fund despite not being on the National Personnel Records Center list used
by the VA.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 established the Filipino
Veterans Equity Compensation (FVEC) Fund that provides a one-time benefit payment to eligible Filipino World War II veterans.
Over 45,000 claims were received and processed. While more than 18,000 claims
have been approved, over 24,000 were denied and around 4,500 denied claims have
been appealed.
To determine the Filipino veterans eligible for FVEC payment, the Department
of the Army relies on an official Guerrilla list that was created in 1948 in the immediate post-war period.
However, many possible inaccuracies in the official Guerrilla list, which is maintained and searched by the National Archives National Personnel Records Center
(NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri, have been identified. The NPRC has noted name variation issues and the existence of other U.S. records verifying service in addition to
the Guerilla list. This has resulted in the reversal of denial decisions by the VA.
In light of evidence that the current process needs improvement and that these
Filipino veterans are now in the 80s and 90s, the urgency to resolve this issue cannot be emphasized enough.
I look forward to working with the Committee, Secretary Shinseki, and Secretary
Hagel on this issue and urge my colleagues support these bills.
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF
HON. HARRY REID, U.S. SENATOR
FROM
NEVADA
Mr. Chairman, For over a decade, we have sent men and women into battle. After
two wars, we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars, tens of thousands have
come back wounded, and 6,709 servicemembers have paid the ultimate price. Moreover, as our Nations heroes transition into civilian life, they are increasingly faced
with a new battletrying to find a job.
Unemployment is an issue facing all Americans, especially in Nevada, but veteran
unemployment numbers are routinely higher than the national average. In fact, as
of March 2013, roughly 783,000 veterans were unemployed and looking for work, including 207,000 post-9/11 veterans. For me, this is simply shameful. Our servicemembers who are currently fighting to protect the freedoms we all enjoy should be
focused on the task at hand, not worried about what they will do when they come
home. And those who have already left the military should be able to put the skills
and experience they have developed in the most highly trained military in the world
to use.
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To combat this problem, I introduced one of the first pieces of legislation during
the 113th Congress: the Putting our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2013 (S. 6).
Whether by equipping veterans with the skills they need to succeed in todays workforce or helping them get their own small businesses off the ground, this bill honors
the sacrifice of the men and women who served in our Armed Forces and builds
upon the great work the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has undertaken in the
past several years to help veterans find jobs.
Specifically, this legislation reauthorizes the transition, retraining, and employment services created by the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. It also further enhances the
VOW to Hire Heroes Act by creating a new, unified, online employment portal for
veterans seeking information regarding Federal employment and jobs training resources; provides grants to first-responders for hiring and re-hiring needs; and directs agency heads to favorably consider contractors that employ a significant number of veterans for contracts of $25 million.
S. 6 is also instrumental in strengthening our vow to protect employment rights
for all veterans. This legislation enables the Attorney General to investigate and file
suit against a pattern or practice of Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) violations by a state or private employers; allows Federal agencies to suspend and debar Federal contractors who repeatedly violate the
employment and reemployment rights of members of the Armed Services; and provides the Special Counsel with authority to subpoena attendance, testimony, and
documents from Federal employees and agencies in order to carry out investigations
related to USERRA.
Finally, this legislation helps veteran small business owners. S. 6 codifies the Patriot Express Loan Program into law. This program has been an invaluable resource
for small businesses owned by veterans, servicemembers, and their families by providing loans of up to $500,000. This legislation also raises the Small Business Administration Surety Bond Cap to $5 million, enabling many veteran-owned small
businesses to compete for larger contracts.
I appreciate Chairman Sanders and the Veterans Affairs Committee for taking
the time to consider this valuable piece of legislation that is so badly needed. Putting veterans back to work is a key priority for Senate Leadership during the 113th
Congress, and moving forward, you can count on my support in working with the
Veterans Affairs Committee to ensure that our Nations commitment to veterans
does not end with their tours of duty.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. G.K. BUTTERFIELD,

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NORTH CAROLINA
Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Burr, Thank you for the opportunity to
submit written testimony to your committee. I regret that I was unable to testify
in person.
I urge the Committee to support S. 262, the Veterans Education Equity Act of
2013, introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (IL). I introduced identical legislation in
the House of Representatives in the 112th and 113th Congresses. The Veterans
Education Equity Act seeks to equalize veterans tuition and fee benefits under the
Post-9/11 G.I. Bill by resolving an inequity in the existing law that unintentionally
allots more education funds to veterans enrolled in private colleges than those in
public institutions. Last Congress, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on
Economic Opportunity held a legislative hearing on an identical version of the Veterans Education Equity Act.
Enacted in January 2011, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Improvements Assistance Act caps the amount of education benefits for veterans enrolled in private
colleges at $18,077.50, and limits the education benefit for veterans who attend public colleges to the amount charged for in-state tuition and fees. This law unintentionally burdens a significant number of American veterans, requiring them to pay
thousands of dollars out-of-pocket in non-resident tuition and fees. In certain states,
this can add up to more than $100,000 in costs, which has resulted in veterans
dropping out of college, transferring to another school, or assuming significant student debt. The Veterans Education Equity Act is essential to more than 20,000 veterans who are paying for school out-of-pocket although they were promised full
funding for their college education.
The table below illustrates how S. 262 would improve current law by showing its
impact on Post-9/11 G.I. Bill education aid available to veterans at four institutions
in North Carolina:
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At Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), in-state tuition and fees are $2,776
per year and out-of-state tuition and fees are $13,633. Under current law, a veteran
with North Carolina residency attending ECSU would have his full tuition covered.
A veteran who is not a resident of North Carolina would be charged $13,633 but
only receive $2,776 in education benefits, so he would owe $10,857 out-of-pocket.
However, if that veteran chose to attend Chowan University which costs $11,405,
his education benefits would cover full tuition and fees. The Veterans Education Equity Act would equalize benefits for veterans who choose to attend public or private
institutions.
Last year there were 516 veterans at University of North Carolina institutions
and 667 veterans in North Carolina Community Colleges who would be immediately
impacted should this bill become law. In my District, Air Force veteran Edward Bailey, who attended East Carolina University (ECU), faced $6,000 in charges before
classes began in fall 2011 after the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Improvements
Assistance Act became law. He was forced to take out a $5,000 loan and borrow
$1,000 from friends to stay in school. In his final year of school, he was forced to
pay for $30,000 in tuition and fees. Marine Corps veteran Nan Lopata, who also attended ECU, received G.I. benefits to cover full tuition and fees for her first semester in spring 2011, only to face $6,800 in charges before her second semester in fall
2011. She was unable to afford to continue as a full-time student, delaying her graduation. But worse, she must shoulder her misfortune without relief because the
United States did not honor their commitment to her. Two other students attending
ECUJames and Mary Murthareceived full tuition G.I. benefits for their first
three academic years before receiving bills in fall 2011 totaling $38,000 to complete
their senior years. Their father, active duty Marine Corps Colonel Brian Murtha,
was forced to withdraw $36,000 from his retirement funds. We owe it to veterans
and their families to protect the benefits they were promised when they joined our
military.
I am concerned that the alternative legislative approach being considered in this
hearing, S. 257, would create unintended consequences that could negatively impact
veterans and our higher education system. The bill would require every public institution, as a condition of participating in the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill program, to charge
every veteran no more than the in-state rate. In the vast majority of states, public
institutions do not have the authority to grant in-state tuition rates to out-of-state
veteransthose decisions are a matter of state law controlled entirely by the state
legislature. If a state legislature is unable or unwilling to make the changes called
for in this bill, all veterans would be prohibited from using their Post-9/11 G.I. Bill
benefits to attend that states public institutions. While I appreciate and share the
goals of the bills sponsors, the legislation would allow an inappropriate level of Federal intrusion and would result in significant harm to veterans ability to attend
public institutions of their choosing. In my home state of North Carolina, there are
many outstanding public institutions such as North Carolina Central University,
East Carolina University, and Elizabeth City State University; to name a few, that
are providing veterans with an excellent education and important support programs
and services.
S. 257 is an unfunded mandate which sets a dangerous precedent by shifting responsibility for veterans benefits from the United States Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) to the states. The bill is significantly more expensive to taxpayers than
the Veterans Education Equity Act which focuses specifically on correcting the inequity in current law for the 20,000 veterans who are impacted. The actual cost and
impact of S. 257 is uncertain and warrants further investigation. In fact, in an April
House subcommittee hearing on identical companion legislation, VA Deputy Under
Secretary for Economic Opportunity Curtis L. Coy testified, VA cannot offer support for this legislation because of its uncertain impact on the availability of edu-
187
cational choices for Veterans, Servicemembers, or their dependents. I strongly
agree with Mr. Coys assessment: S. 257 should not move forward until such time
as the Committee can assure itself that the bill will not result in unintended and
negative consequences for veterans.
We owe our veterans every opportunity to get a quality education and enter the
workforce with the tools needed to compete. Our broad coalition including 45 cosponsors and seven higher education groups urge the Committee to consider the positive
impacts this legislation will have for our Nations veterans. If we do not correct this
problem, up to 20,000 veterans could face paying as much as $100,000 in out-ofpocket tuition costs in a tough economy, and at a time when 9.2 percent of veterans
are unemployed. Lets treat all of our veterans fairly by passing the Veterans Education Equity Act out of committee and helping it become law.
Enclosure from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities follows.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. MURIEL A. HOWARD, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN

ASSOCIATION OF STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (AASCU)
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Thank you Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, and other distinguished
Senators for affording me this opportunity to submit testimony on the role of
AASCU institutions in providing affordable access to higher education for our veterans; I commend the Committee for exploring this topic. My name is Dr. Muriel
Howard and I have the honor of serving as the president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Now in its 51st year, AASCU is
a national leadership association consisting of over 400 presidents, chancellors and
system heads of public four-year colleges and universities. The group is diverse in
its membership, ranging from small, liberal arts institutions enrolling a few hun-
189
dred students to research-intensive universities that enroll tens of thousands of
students.
AASCU will be providing written testimony on two bills before the Committee:
S. 257, the proposed GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013, and S. 262, the proposed
Veterans Education Equity Act of 2013. Both bills would essentially provide instate tuition rates for our veterans, something AASCU as an organization strongly
supports. However, we have significant concerns about the mechanism used in
S. 257 that would shift the cost burden for Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits from the Federal Government to the states. Since many institutions of higher education do not
have independent tuition-setting authority, 40 state legislatures would need to
change state laws in order to comply with the bill. Many states have enacted minimum residency requirements that students must meet to be eligible for in-state tuition rates. For example, in the District of Columbia, to receive the in-state tuition
rate, a veteran must reside in the District for a full year to become eligible. We have
concerns regarding the practicality of having multiple states change their laws regarding in-state tuition for veterans in a short period of time. Thus, we conclude
that S. 262 includes language that is a preferred method for providing in-state tuition. The procedure in S. 262 would avoid confusing our veterans and not put additional stress on overburdened state budgets still recovering from a recession.
S. 262THE VETERANS EDUCATION EQUITY ACT
In short, The Veterans Education Equity Act addresses the unintentional harm
to veterans enrolled as out-of-state students at public institutions of higher education resulting from the passage of the Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act, Public Law 111377. After passage of the 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began the unenviable
task of implementing the legislation in a very short period of time. The VA established a tuition and fee payment schedule for each state in order to do so. In creating this structure, the VA separately determined the highest amount in tuition
and in required fees charged to a student attending a public institution, rather than
combining tuition and required fees into one amount as is the standard practice in
higher education billing procedures. This structure resulted in veterans attending
public institutions having all or nearly all of their tuition and fee charges paid via
their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits regardless of whether they were considered an instate or out-of-state student.
The major focus of Public Law 111377 was to revamp the tuition and fee structure first established by the VA. The legislation established two criteria: those veterans attending public institutions would receive benefits equal to in-state tuition
and fee charges, while veterans attending private institutions would receive the
lesser of $18,000 or their actual charges for tuition and fees. Congress, when drafting this legislation, thus created an inequity considerably reducing benefits for those
veterans attending public institutions located outside of their home state. The benefit for in-state tuition and fee charges is worth, on average, about $8,655 per year
and does not pay the full tuition and fee costs at public institutions located outside
a veterans home state. Out-of-state tuition and fees at public four-year institutions
averaged $21,706 in 201213 (College Board Trends in Pricing, 2012, p. 3). On the
contrary, if one of our veterans chooses to attend an out-of-state private institution,
he or she will automatically qualify for up to $18,000 per year. Simply put, a veteran who chooses to attend a public institution is entitled to, on average, less than
half of the benefit of a veteran who chooses to attend a private institution. S. 262
would remedy this inequity.
AASCU supports S. 262 as the preferred method to provide in-state tuition for our
veterans. We believe that this bill would not shift additional cost burdens on institutions and states along with providing what amounts to in-state tuition by leveling
off the payment disparity between public and private colleges. Finally, this bill
would avoid creating additional confusion for our veterans. Forty states would not
need to update state laws in order to be eligible to receive benefits from the Federal
Government.
S. 257THE GI BILL TUITION FAIRNESS ACT
S. 257 would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to deny GI Bill benefits to
veterans who are not charged in-state tuition rates. Moreover, this bill would not
allow any veteran or their dependents enrolled at a public institution to receive GI
Bill benefits if that institution does not offer in-state tuition to all veterans. As stated previously, AASCU strongly supports offering in-state tuition rates to veterans.
However, we are concerned that this bill could create more problems than it actually
solves.
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S. 257, as currently written, would require institutions to convince state legislatures to alter their tuition laws on a state-by-state basis. Currently only 10 states
provide in-state tuition to veterans regardless of their state of legal residence. We
do not think it is realistic to expect 40 states to substantially amend their state tuition laws prior to August 1, 2014.
It is important to remember that the majority of public colleges and universities
in the United States do not set their individual tuition or control the state policies
governing tuition. Postsecondary tuition policy in the remaining 40 states is set by
state legislatures, a statewide coordinating board, or other state entities with authority to set tuition for institutions. In addition, many states have established clear
criteria for who is eligible to receive in-state tuition benefits. Currently, only 10
States offer in-state tuition to qualified veterans immediately after they move into
the state. Thus, state legislatures would ultimately be required to change the residency treatment of veterans. This is a potentially difficult obstacle in many states.
Given the complexity of tuition-setting policies across 40 states, it is quite likely
that institutions will not be legally permitted to charge in-state rates regardless of
their desire to serve veterans. Veterans seeking to enroll in public institutions in
those states would need to find other, more than likely costlier, programs in order
to utilize their GI Bill benefits. Veterans would be forced to either move to a state
that offered in-state tuition, go to a more expensive private nonprofit institution, attend a for-profit college or abandon their plans to attend college.
This will create a scenario of confusion since many veterans arrive on campus
with the full expectation of receiving their GI Bill benefit. Public institutions would
be forced to inform veterans that they would not be eligible to use those benefits
in states where in-state tuition has not been specifically approved for veterans. Further, no new additional veterans, whether designated in-state or out-of-state residents, would be permitted to use their GI Bill benefits in the state. Thus, AASCU
envisions further confusion which could potentially discourage veterans from pursuing any postsecondary education as well as creating a negative atmosphere toward veteran-friendly public institutions that are legally bound by the laws of the
states in which they are located.
Veterans usually decide to remain in local communities after the end of a tour
of duty in a specific location where they may not be considered state residents for
a variety of reasons including their minor children being already established in local
K12 schools (particularly those minor children with special needs), their spouses
employment, their familys integration into the local community, their caregiving responsibilities for other family members, and so forth. If they are located in a state
that is unable or has yet to alter residency treatment for veterans, significant disruption to the family unit could occur. A veteran would explore options at a campus,
not be able to use their GI Bill benefits there, and be forced to move to a state offering in-state tuition in order to receive their benefits. Passage of this measure would
create a hodge-podge of eligible and ineligible states.
Further, we ask if the Committee has considered the treatment of a veteran who
is forced to move to another state as a result of family obligations such as caring
for an ill or aging parent? If a veteran is attending classes at an institution within
a state that has automatic in-state tuition eligibility for veterans, but moves to one
that does not in order to satisfy family obligations such as caregiving, the veteran,
through no fault of his or her own, will no longer be eligible to use GI Bill benefits
in order to complete coursework.
It may also be instructive for the Committee to understand the nature of in-state
versus out-of-state tuition and fee rates. One way of looking at an established outof-state rate is to consider it as the full cost to the institution of educating a student. Since public institutions receive support from the state in order to provide its
residents with an educationa priority of the statethe in-state tuition and fee
rate reflects the cost to the institution after factoring in the state subsidy. Thus,
an in-state rate is supported by state taxpayers. Out-of-state surcharges, therefore,
are an attempt for the state to recoup the costs of educating those students whose
education has not been supported by state taxpayers. Passage of this bill would shift
paying for veterans educationestablished under the original post-World War II GI
Bill and all its successive iterations as a Federal Government obligationto the
states, but only for veterans attending public institutions.
This inequitable treatment would punish public institutionsand only public institutions for the legal inability to set their own tuition and fees. It would not affect
private non- and for-profit institutions that charged, on average respectively,
$29,056 and $15,172 for tuition and fees in 201213 (College Board Trends in Pricing, 2012, p. 10). Thus, it would end up costing veteransand public institutions,
that educate the majority of Americansrather than helping them. Therefore,
AASCU does not support the punitive aspects of S. 257.
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PREPARED STATEMENT
OF MAX CLELAND, SECRETARY,

MONUMENTS COMMISSION
AMERICAN BATTLE
S. 705WAR MEMORIAL PROTECTION ACT OF 2013
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: Thank you for the invitation to
submit written testimony on S. 705, the War Memorial Protection Act of 2013.
The American Battle Monuments Commission believes its existing statutory
framework provides the Commission with sufficient authority to execute its mission.
Accordingly, we would not expect S. 705 to have any impact on Commission authorities or operations.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF LAURA W. MURPHY, DIRECTOR; VANIA LEVEILLE, SENIOR
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL; AND ELAYNE WEISS, LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT, WASHINGTON
LEGISLATIVE OFFICE, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its more than a half
million members, countless additional supporters and activists, and 53 affiliates nationwide, we commend the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee for bringing attention to the problems survivors of military sexual trauma face when applying for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
For decades, the ACLU has worked not only to end discriminatory treatment
within our military,1 but also to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and
harassment in the workplace and to ensure womens full equality. The ACLU also
works to hold governments, employers and other institutional actors accountable so
as to ensure that women and men can lead lives free from violence.
Over the last several years, Congress, the Department of Defense and the VA
have grappled with the scourge of sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape within the military. Although a variety of proposals have been implemented and some
progress has been made to prevent and respond to sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape in the military, the problem is deeply-rooted and persists. More than
3,300 reports of sexual assault were made in FY 2012,2 but we know that the incidence of sexual assault is significantly underreported. The Pentagon estimated that
26,000 incidents of sexual assault occurred in 2012 alone,3 and that one in three
women serving in the military has been sexually assaulted.4 While such statistics
alone are alarming, the problem of military sexual assault is compounded by the
fact that servicemembers who leave the service find that the trauma they experienced as a result of sexual assault is not adequately recognized by the VA.
The ACLU supports the Ruth Moore Act of 2013 (S. 294), which would remove
current barriers that far too often prove insurmountable for sexual assault survivors
who apply for disability compensation for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
and other mental health conditions. Congress should act quickly to enact this
legislation.
I. CONGRESSIONAL ACTION IS NEEDED TO EASE THE EVIDENTIARY BURDEN OF PROOF
SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT MUST MEET WHEN SEEKING DISABILITY BENEFITS.
Veterans who were sexually assaulted during their service in our Armed Forces,
and who now seek disability benefits, for conditions such as PTSD and depression,
face enormous barriers. Data obtained through a FOIA lawsuit, filed in 2010 by the
ACLU and the Service Womens Action Network (SWAN) against the VA and the
Department of Defense, shows that only 32 percent of PTSD disability claims based
on military sexual trauma were approved by the Veterans Benefits Administration
(VBA), compared to an approval rate of 54 percent of all other PTSD claims from
20082010. Moreover, of those sexual assault survivors who were approved for benefits, women were more likely to receive a lower disability rating than men, therefore
qualifying for less compensation.
Despite the disparity in approved claims uncovered by the FOIA lawsuit, the VA
has indicated that it is unwilling to amend 38 CFR 3.304(f), the current regulation
governing the claims process for PTSD.5 In 2011, the VA issued a fast letter to
all VA Regional Offices (VAROs) reiterating the current policy while also emphasizing that the regulation should be interpreted liberally to give a veterans claim
1 Most recently, In November 2012, the ACLU initiated a lawsuit, on behalf of the Service
Women Action Network and other plaintiffs, against the Department of Defense challenging the
ground combat exclusion. Over the years, we have also successfully challenged military recruitment standards and military academy admissions policies that discriminated against women;
fought for servicewomen to receive the same military benefits as their male counterparts; and
defended the rights of pregnant servicewomen; and advocated for servicewomens access to reproductive health care.
2 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, ANNUAL REPORT ON SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY: FISCAL
YEAR 2012, VOLUME I, 3 (2013), available at http://www.sapr.mil/media/pdf/reports/FY12_DOD_
SAPRO_Annual_Report_on_Sexual_Assault-VOLUME_ONE.pdf.
3 Id. at 25.
4 James Risen, Military Has Not Solved Problem of Sexual Assault, Women Say, N.Y. TIMES,
Nov. 2, 2012 at A15, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/us/women-in-air-force-saysexual-misconduct-still-rampant.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
5 See Invisible Wounds: Examining the Disability Compensation Benefits Process for Victims
of Military Sexual Trauma: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Disability Assistance & Meml Affairs of the H. Comm. on Veterans Affairs, 112th Cong. (2012) (statement of Anu Bhagwati, Executive Director, Service Womens Action Network).
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the benefit of the doubt.6 The letter provided further guidance for what secondary
markersevidentiary signs, events or circumstancesa claims officer should seek
out and review in determining the validity of a disability claim. While we commend
the VA for providing such guidance, it fails to address the problem. Although the
VA specifically developed regulations and procedures that provide for a liberal approach to evidentiary development and adjudication of [ ] claims, 7 the subjective
nature of the current policy actually works against survivors of sexual assault.
The VAs regulations explicitly treat veterans who suffer from PTSD based on sexual trauma differently from all other PTSD claims, including those related to combat and hostile military activity. Even when a veteran can establish a diagnosis of
PTSD and his or her mental health provider connects PTSD to sexual assault during service, the VA is not required to accept doctors opinions that the alleged
PTSD had its origins 8 in the claimants military service. The VA reasoned that
while such a diagnosis may constitute credible evidence, it is not always probative.9
As a result, the VA requires additional evidence, such as records from law enforcement authorities, hospitals, or mental health facilities, that generally does not exist.
As the Department of Defense itself acknowledges, the vast majority of servicemembers who are assaulted do not report that assault because of the retaliation
they are likely to face.
Another problem faced by veterans is that until recently, the Department of Defense retained restricted reports of sexual assault for only 5 years; after that time
the records were destroyed.10 On average, a veteran who was assaulted waits 15
years after leaving the service to file a disability claim with the VA.11 Because of
this delay and the Pentagons former record retention policy, veterans who were sexually assaulted are effectively cutoff from accessing critical evidence substantiating
their disability claim to the VA. Likewise, as more time passes before a veteran
seeks disability benefits, the harder it becomes for that individual to later prove a
claim of sexual assault through secondary markers, such as statements from fellow
servicemembers or deterioration in work performance. People move away, while documents are lost or discarded.
Even when a veteran is able to present evidence to a claims examiner, whether
the claim is approved is ultimately determined by a subjective standard that differs
from examiner to examiner leading to inconsistent outcomes.12 Moreover, VAROs
have seen high workforce turnover and the time period over which new employees
receive training on adjudicating claims has been significantly reduced from one year
to just eight weeks.13 As the VA grapples with the overwhelming number of outstanding benefits claims, which now total almost 900,000,14 unprepared and overburdened employees may not have the time or the skill set needed to properly investigate and adjudicate complex sexual assault disability claims.
While the VA stands by its current policy, it is clear that the Department is not
achieving its mission to treat all veterans and their families with the utmost dig6 See Training Letter 1105 from Thomas J. Murphy, Director, Compensation & Pension Services, to all VA Regional Offices (Dec. 2, 2011).
7 Id.
8 Godfrey v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 113, 121 (1995).
9 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Claims Based on Personal Attacks, 67 Fed. Reg. 10330 (Mar.
7, 2002) (codified in 38 CFR pt. 3).
10 The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013 changed this policy so that now DOD
must retain these documents for 50 years, but only at the request of the servicemember. Pub.
L. No. 112239, 577, 126 Stat. 1632, 1762.
11 DEPT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, VETERANS HEALTH INITIATIVE: MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA 58
(2004), available at http://www.publichealth.va.gov/docs/vhi/military_sexual_trauma.pdf.
12 A study commissioned by the VA reported that rating decisions often call for subjective
judgments. INST. FOR DEF. ANALYSES, ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENCES IN DISABILITY COMPENSATION
IN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, VOLUME 1: FINAL REPORT, S3 (2006), available at
http://www.va.gov/VETDATA/docs/SurveysAndStudies/State_Variance_Study-Volumes_1_2.pdf.
See also Title Redacted by Agency, Bd. Vet. App. 0318972 (2003) (veterans claim was denied
despite presenting substantial evidence corroborating his sexual assault, including documentation of erratic behavior, sworn statements attesting to military performance issues, and records
of mental counseling and treatment for sexual transmitted diseases.).
13 Focusing on People: A Review of VAs Plans for Employee Training, Accountability, and
Workload Management to Improve Disability Claims Processing: Hearing Before H. Comm. on
Veterans Affairs, 113th Cong. (2013) (submission for the record of The American Federation of
Government Employees).
14 Rick Maze, VFW defends VA official, despite continued backlog, FED. TIMES (Mar. 20,
2013, 4:19 PM), http://www.Federaltimes.com/article/20130320/DEPARTMENTS04/303200003/
VFW-defends-VA-official-despite-continued-backlog.
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nity and compassion. 15 Instead the VA has created an unfair standard that sets
sexual assault survivors up to fail in claiming the disability benefits they deserve.
The Ruth Moore Act would rectify the current policy and bring fairness to the
claims process. Under S. 294, the VA would be required to treat PTSD claims related to sexual assault the same way it treats all other PTSD claims: by accepting
the veterans lay testimony as sufficient proof that the trauma occurred in the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. 16 This standard will help
reduce the number of inconsistent and arbitrary adjudication decisions that result
from applying a subjective standard and will decrease the risk of veterans experiencing further trauma as they navigate the claims process.
II. S. 294S REPORTING REQUIREMENT HELPS ENSURE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY.
The ACLU works to hold our government accountable for responding to and taking proactive measures to end the cycle of violence in our country. For this reason,
in 2010 we filed a Federal lawsuit against the Department of Defense and the VA
for their failure to respond to our FOIA requests seeking records documenting incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence in the military
and how the government addresses this violence. The goal of the lawsuit was to obtain the release of records on a matter of public concern, namely, the prevalence
of [military sexual trauma] (MST) within the armed services, the policies of DOD
and the VA regarding MST and other related disabilities, and the nature of each
agencys response to MST. 17
Given our past work in advancing government accountability, we strongly support
the provision in the bill that requires the VA to submit an annual report to Congress that includes statistics, such as the number sexual assault-related claims that
were approved or denied, and the average time it took the VA to adjudicate a claim.
Should you have any questions, please dont hesitate to contact our Senior Legislative Counsel.
15 U.S. DEPT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, ABOUT VA: MISSION, CORE VALUES & GOALS, available
at http://www.va.gov/about_va/mission.asp (last visited Apr. 15, 2013).
16 Ruth Moore Act of 2013, S. 294, 113th Cong. 2(a) (2013).
17 Complaint at 2, Serv. Womens Action Network v. U.S. Dept of Def., No. 3:2010cv01953 (D.
Conn. Feb. 23, 2011).
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PREPARED STATEMENT
198
PREPARED STATEMENT OF AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES,
AFLCIO AND THE AFGE NATIONAL VA COUNCIL
OVERVIEW
The American Federation of Government Employees and the AFGE National VA

Council (hereinafter AFGE), the exclusive representative of employees processing
disability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs (Department) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Regional Offices (ROs) support the Departments Transformation efforts and appreciate the opportunity to share our views on Section 101
of S. 928, the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013, which would establish
a working group to improve VBAs employee work credit and work management systems. AFGE commends Chairman Sanders leadership in introducing legislation to
create a new work credit system through collaboration between the Department,
employee representatives, and veterans service organizations. Creating a more effective, scientifically designed, databased system for measuring the personnel hours
and other resources required to accurately decide veterans claims the first time will
help reduce VBAs backlog of benefits claims and better serve our Nations veterans.
AFGE urges this Committee to provide ongoing oversight of the work groups efforts
to design and implement this new work credit system.
COMPOSITION OF THE WORKING GROUP
AFGE commends Chairman Sanders for proposing to increase collaboration

among interested parties to fix the current, broken work credit system. AFGE also
supports the provision in the bill for Congressional oversight of progress of the
working group.
AFGE also supports the requirement in the bill to include frontline employees recommended by a labor organization in the working group. Frontline employees provide a unique perspective on workplace issues and the current work credit system,
and will play a valuable role in identifying much needed improvements for a new
work credit system. Their input will be especially critical during the current period
of Transformation when many new processes are being implemented. It is critical
that labor representatives are able to select these employees as well in order to ensure true collaboration with VA management and stakeholders.
AFGE supports requirements in S. 928 for regular oversight and reporting to Congress. The reports outlined in Section 101(e) are thorough and allow for several opportunities for Congressional oversight and adjustment. For example, the bill allows
for implementation of changes following the first report after 180 days, which will
allow positive changes to the work credit system to take place prior to the final report from the working group.
The mandate in Section 101(c) (3) to create a new resource allocation model will
also make long overdue changes in the claims process. Currently, VBA deprives low
performing offices of resources, rather than shifting resources to strengthen the capacity of these offices. VBA must change its resource allocation model to support
struggling Regional Offices, and AFGE supports Chairman Sanders focus on this
issue.
AFGE urges the Committee to include in Section 101(b)(2) specific language regarding the number of work group representatives from the Department, labor and
veterans community to ensure effective collaboration in the work group.
AFGE also requests that work groups duties be expanded to include consultation
with an independent subject matter expert to design and conduct a scientific,
databased, time motion study. This study will serve as the foundation of the new
databased methodology. Under VBAs current work credit system, Veteran Service
Representatives (VSRs), Rating VSRs (RVSRs), and Decision Review Officers
(DROs) complete numerous time consuming steps in the adjudication process for
which they receive no credit, as discussed more fully below. These tasks are both
critical to VBAs ability to process claims and the agencys customer service for veterans. Despite assertions made by VBA in the past, the agency has never completed
a data driven time motion study to analyze the time needed for each of these tasks.
Similarly, AFGE recommends incorporating an independent third party expert in
the assessment phase of the workgroup in Section 101(c)(1). Finally, in order to ensure that the new work credit system is properly designed, this independent entity
must be able to provide ongoing oversight and input, and have regular access to all
work group participants.
CURRENT WORK CREDIT SYSTEM PROBLEMS
As noted, VBA has never had a formal work credit system in place that is based
on actual data reflecting the amount of time required to process specific types and
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components of claims. The current work credit system does not include an inventory
of employees daily tasks. The agency has made a few perfunctory efforts to establish a more reliable set of measures over the years. However, AFGE has not seen
any work credit study or work credit system based on actual data.
Some of the main problems with the current work credit system include:
Lack of consistency
Lack of a solid methodology
Failure to update its system
Lack of participation from the front line employees and veterans service officers
with direct knowledge of the work process
Lack of work credit for a variety of tasks
The only study AFGE is aware of is the 2008 IBM Gap Analysis study. IBMs
main work credit recommendation was to provide work credit for developing and
rating issues, rather than claims as a whole. When IBM tested these performance
measures on 150 RVSRs, they found the employees produced at a higher quality and
used far less excluded time while rating cases. However, the study did not break
down the time for every piece of rating and development. The study is also outdated
now with VBMS implementation.
Depriving employees of the proper credit for critical work needed to get claims
processed accurately and timely the first time hurts veterans by increasing errors
and delays.
VBA EMPLOYEE SURVEY ON CURRENT WORK CREDIT SYSTEM
AFGE conducted an informal survey of Regional Offices to identify how well the
current work credit system measures (or does not measure) the hours and skills required to complete different tasks. Responses from employees working in approximately a dozen different offices indicated widespread inconsistencies in how much
work credit is awarded for the same tasks. Perhaps more troubling, employees in
every Regional Office and position are required to perform daily tasks for which
they are provided zero credit or only partial credit. By denying credit for significant
tasks, the current work credit system increases workplace stress, puts pressure on
employees to rush through claims, and results in unwarranted negative performance
ratings.
More specifically, employees reported that they receive inadequate or zero work
credit for the following tasks:
Deferred ratings: Deferred ratings occur on a daily basis in Regional Offices. It
is important to spend time on these issues since the veteran should be assisted and
informed accurately about additional medical evidence they will need for their claim.
However, RVSRs do not receive any credit for cases where there is a deferred rating
(for example, cases deferred back to the VSR because additional medical evidence
is required). It is typical for a RVSR to have at least one deferred rating every day
that requires two hours of work to write up medical opinions, tag pages where additional evidence is needed, and write an opinion for each issue being deferredwithout any credit. For example, an RVSR is working on a case where the veteran has
claimed ten issues, but only two can be rated. The RVSR must spend significant
time on the other eight issues. In this situation, the RVSR will receive credit for
only two issues, rather than ten.
Multi-issue and complex cases: VSRs are not given adequate credit for rating
a case with significantly more issues or complexity. Employees receive additional
credit for completing cases with at least three issues. However, veterans are regularly filing claims cases with dozens of issues. VSRs do not receive any additional
credit for developing a case with thirty issues versus a case with three issues. Employees also are denied sufficient credit for processing cases involving complex
claims such as military sexual trauma and TBI.
VSR work by RVSRs: RVSRs regularly work on developing cases (VSR work).
Sometimes, RVSRs will receive a case to rate that needs additional development.
Other times, Regional Offices do not have the proper ratio of VSRs to RVSRs; consequently, there are not enough cases to rate. In both of these instances, RVSRs
work on developing cases, yet they receive no credit for this work.
Mentoring: VBAs more senior claims processors receive no credit for assisting
or mentoring newer employees.
Productive time lost due to breakdowns in VBMS: VBMS is in the process of
being rolled out nationally. However, the system still has frequent and significant
malfunctions, at both the RO and national levels. During VBMS shutdowns or malfunctions, employees receive no adjustment to their work credit requirements for
lost production time. This has become a major issue with VBAs recent enactment
of mandatory overtime for employees. For example, employees reported that VBMS
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shutdown on May 30, 2013 during mandatory overtime hours. Mandatory overtime
cannot possibly be productive if employees are consistently dealing with a system
that breaks down on a regular basis.
Supplemental development: VSRs can take credit for supplemental development,
while RVSRs and DROs cannot. However, VSRs must complete an Advanced Development Course in order to request medical opinions. At one Regional Office, VSRs
regularly request medical evidence, despite the course not being offered for several
years. This is inconsistent across VBA.
Training: Employees are not given sufficient work credit for time spent during
trainings. Often times, training is shifted away from classroom instruction to reading slides or a packet at their desk with less time allotted by managers than required by the curriculum. Employees are consistently not given enough work credit
for the time it takes to go through this type of training.
The absence of a valid work credit system exacerbates the well documented problem of VBA managers manipulating backlog data to improve performance measures.
The newest Fast letter from Undersecretary Hickey on long pending cases has an
admirable goal of processing cases that have been pending for a long period of time.
Veterans who fought for this Nation deserve to have their claims processed in a
timely manner, and waiting over two years for a decision from VBA is unacceptable.
However, in practice, this newest quick fix from VBA shifts difficult, time consuming cases to high performing office where employees are denied any additional
credit for processing these more challenging cases. If Regional Offices are going to
dedicate their efforts to this essential yet difficult task, employees must receive the
proper work credit.
Section 102
Section 102 of S. 928 establishes a task force on retention and training of VBA
employees working as claims processors and adjudicators. AFGE recommends adding a provision to S. 928 Section 102(b) to require the inclusion of employees on this
task force, based on the recommendations of their labor representatives.
Proper retention techniques and training of a strong workforce will play an essential role in helping to lower the backlog of veterans claims. Input from frontline employees is essential in determining inadequacies with training, inconsistencies
across Regional Offices, issues related to career growth, and general morale.
AFGE believes it is essential to have frontline employees provide input into decisions related to retention and training in order to provide a wide and accurate scope
of the workplace in VBA. A consistent theme throughout the ROs is that VBA management takes a one size fits all approach when creating their training materials.
The training is not broken up between specific offices, and longtime employees receive the same training as newer employees. There is also no consideration of areas
of performance when determining which type of training to give which employees.
In the past, when employees have not been able to provide input, the training program suffers.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide input from AFGE and its National VA
Council on this important legislation.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF STEPHEN PETERS, PRESIDENT,

THE AMERICAN MILITARY PARTNER ASSOCIATION
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you holding this hearing today, and for your dedication to our servicemembers, veterans, and their families. We are forever grateful to you for continuing
to ensure our military families receive the support they deserve for their service to
our great Nation.
You are considering a wide range of benefits bills here today that would impact
the lives of our Nations veterans and their families. However, there is one bill in
particular that I would like to focus our testimony on because of the disproportionate impact it would have on our community and on the lives of so many military
familiesthe Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act.
As the Nations largest non-profit, non-partisan resource and support network for
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) military families, the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) is committed to connecting, supporting, honoring,
and serving the partners and spouses of Americas LGBT servicemembers and veterans. Our membership spans all branches of the military, every state in the Nation, and a wide range of experiences that all military families endureincluding
multiple members whose spouses have paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving.
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Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) are limited in what benefits may be made available to the same-sex
spouses of servicemembers and veterans. The Charlie Morgan Military Spouses
Equal Treatment Act of 2013 would require the VA and the DOD to: (1) recognize
any legal marriage by a state that permits same-sex marriage; and (2) grant access
to military and veterans related benefits to the spouses of all servicemembers.
There are more than 100 benefits granted to servicemembers, veterans, and military families based upon marital status, yet many of these are denied to same-sex
military spouses and their families. While the previous Secretary of Defense, Leon
Panetta, ordered the extension of a select number of benefits to same-sex domestic
partners (the full extension of which has yet to be implemented), there are still critical areas of support and benefits that the same-sex spouses of servicemembers and
veterans are and will continue to be be denied without passage of this bill.
Of direct relation to this Committee are the benefits provided through the VA to
surviving spouses. Currently, surviving legal spouses who happen to be of the same
gender are denied access to benefits like dependency and indemnity compensation,
survivors pension, dependents educational assistance, and home loans. Nothing
could be more dishonorable than to deny the legal spouse of a fallen servicemember
critically needed support and benefits simply because of their gender. Regardless of
their gender, these spouses hurt too when their loved one dies or is injuredboth
emotionally and financially. As a nation that is committed to honoring all who serve
and supporting those they leave behind, this flaw in our current veterans benefits
framework must be corrected.
One of AMPAs members in North Carolina, Tracy Dice Johnson, is the first
known same-sex military spouse to lose her wife to war. Tracys wife, North Carolina National Guardsman Staff Sergeant Donna Johnson, was killed in action in Afghanistan on October 1, 2012, by a suicide bomber while on patrol. When Staff Sergeant Johnson was killed, Tracy did not receive the proper notification from the
Army because she is not recognized as the primary next-of-kin. Tracy sadly had to
find out about her wifes death through someone else. At Donnas funeral, Tracy had
to watch the flag of her fallen wife be given to someone else, something no military
spouse should ever have to endure. Even though they were legally married, Tracy
is not recognized as the military spouse that she undoubtedly is. To add insult to
injury, she is still denied all of the surviving spouse benefits provided to heterosexual military and veteran spouses by our government.
The Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act would correct this injustice by extending vital benefits to same-sex military and veteran spouses. The bill
itself is named after the late Charlie Morgan, who served as a Chief Warrant Officer
in the New Hampshire National Guard. Charlie recently died of cancer, leaving behind her wife and daughter. Charlies widow, Karen, is also denied all of the survivor benefits normally afforded to heterosexual widows of servicemembers and
veterans.
There are numerous other military and veterans benefits and support services
that same-sex spouses and their families are excluded from, such as access to military and veterans health programs, financial support for expensive moves to new
duty stations, access to military family housing, family housing allowances at the
with dependent rate, and even command sponsorship for overseas duty stations.
All are denied simply because the legally wed spouse is of the same gender as the
servicemember or veteran. While these selfless Americans voluntarily commit their
lives in defense of our Nation, our Nation has turned its back on their families.
These military families serve and sacrifice just as much for our freedom as their
heterosexual counterparts, yet they do it all without the same level of support and
benefits. They continue to sacrifice and serve because they believe in the goodness
and righteousness of the United States of America and in the mission of our Armed
Forces. The least our Nation can do in return is provide them and their families
with access to the same benefits and support as everyone else who serves.
The Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act would finally honor
all who serve and have served by providing equal access to support and benefits to
these honorable warriors and their families. Most importantly for this Committee,
it would ensure that the spouses of the fallen are properly cared for and receive the
dignity, respect, and support they rightly deserve.
I truly appreciate your consideration of the impact this bill would have on the
lives of our military families. We owe these families more than our gratitude; we
owe them the proper support that they too deserve. Thank you.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF MAGGIE GARRETT, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICANS

UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
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LETTER
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PREPARED STATEMENT
OF THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF
DEFENSE
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr and Members of the Committee, the
Department of Defense (DOD) appreciates the opportunity to comment on pending
legislation before this Committee. We are committed to providing our Servicemembers and veterans with the support and benefits they are deserved, and ensuring the partnership between DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
works toward those ends. Included in this written statement are our views on legislation that DOD has a direct equity. Thank you again for this opportunity and the
continued support of this Committee and Congress.
S. 373, THE CHARLIE MORGAN MILITARY SPOUSES EQUAL TREATMENT ACT OF 2013
S. 373 would change the current definition of spouse to include a person of the
same sex lawfully married under the law of the state where the marriage occurred.
This proposal would enact an exception to the DOMA for the sole purpose of defining the word spouse in titles 10, 32, 37, and 38, United States Code. The Department of Defense supports the extension of benefits to same-sex domestic partners
of military members to the fullest extent allowable under the law.
S. 495, CAREERS FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013, SECTION 3; AND S. 492
While the Department appreciates the intent of this legislation (Section 3 of

S. 495 and S. 492 are identical) to assist our Veterans by eliminating barriers to credentialing and licensing at the state level, there are, however, two areas we would
like to highlight.
The proposed legislation could potentially withhold funding from two Department
of Labor programs specifically designed to assist Veterans with employmentthe
Disabled Veterans Outreach Program and the Local Veterans Employment Representatives.
Also by limiting participation to Veterans who have, * * * not less than 10 years
of experience in a military occupational specialty * * * the proposed legislation
misses the Veteran demographic with the highest rates of unemployment. According
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2012 annual average unemployment rate for
Veterans aged 18 to 24 was 20.4%. The requirement for 10 years of experience effectively prevents mid to lower grade Servicemembers from taking advantage of this
section of the proposed legislation. Younger Servicemembers who decide to depart
the military after their first or second enlistment will not be eligible to take advantage of this proposal.
S. 629, HONOR AMERICAS GUARD-RESERVE RETIREES ACT OF 2013
This bill would add to chapter 1, title 38, United States Code, a provision to honor
as Veterans, based on retirement status, certain persons who performed service in
reserve components of the Armed Forces but who do not have service qualifying for
Veteran status under 38 U.S.C. 101(2). The bill provides that such persons would
be honored as Veterans, but would not be entitled to any benefit by reason of the
amendment.
Under 38 U.S.C. 101(2), Veteran status is conditioned on the performance of active military, naval, or air service. Under current law, a National Guard or Reserve
member is considered to have had such service only if he or she served on active
duty, was disabled or died from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in line
of duty during active duty for training, or was disabled or died from any injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty or from an acute myocardial infarction, a cardiac arrest, or a cerebrovascular accident during inactive duty training.
S. 629 would eliminate these service requirements for National Guard or Reserve
members who served in such a capacity for at least 20 years. Retirement status
alone would make them eligible for Veteran status.
DOD recognizes that the National Guard and Reserves have admirably served
this country and in recent years have played an even greater role in our Nations
overseas conflicts. Nevertheless, the Department does not support this bill because
it represents a departure from active service as the foundation for Veteran status.
This bill would extend Veteran status to those who never performed active military,
naval, or air service, the very circumstance which qualifies an individual as a Veteran. Thus, this bill would equate longevity of reserve service with the active service
long ago established as the hallmark for Veteran status. The Department does not
concur with expanding the definition and calling this population veterans, even if
that does not entail qualification for associated benefits.
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Additionally, this provision as written is likely to cause significant confusion
amongst the population of those who have served, and under S. 629 would be called
veterans, yet not be qualified for any additional benefits.
S. 674, ACCOUNTABILITY FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013
This bill states that whenever the Secretary of Veterans Affairs submits a request
for information, that the head of a covered agency has no more than 30 days to provide all information that the Secretary determines is necessary to adjudicate a claim
for a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary.
DOD and VA have both agreed to a 45 day timeframe to allow any and all last
minute medical care documentation, particularly coming back from TRICARE network providers, time to catch up to the Service Treatment Record and be interfiled
prior to sending the Service Treatment Record to VA. This agreement enabled DOD
to dramatically decrease the volume of late and loose flowing medical documentation
to the VA Records Management Center and provides greater likelihood that the
Service Treatment Record is complete upon transfer to VBA. Thus, the proposed legislation of implementing a 30 day requirement is not feasible and would undermine
the current DOD/VA efforts in this arena.
S. 690, FILIPINO VETERANS FAIRNESS ACT OF 2013;
S. 868, FILIPINO VETERANS PROMISE ACT
The Department opposes S. 690 and S. 868 regarding the identification of individuals claiming service in the Philippines during World War II, because the current
and effective process is consistent with the process used for other conflicts, ensures
the service of claimants is properly authenticated, and results in claimants receiving
all benefits to which they are entitled.
The requirements for validating the qualifying service of Filipino Guerillas who
belonged to the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) and non-USAFFE Guerillas were established in the wake of the U.S. Governments robust Guerilla Recognition Program that operated in the Philippines from 19451948. The Armys
service validation tools, which include operational records, rosters, and other documents that identify USAFFE and non-USAFFE Guerillas, were created as part of
an extremely thorough public outreach effort, spanning across the Philippines, to
identify and record any service of Philippine nationals in support of the Allied war
effort. This information was developed and collected in direct coordination with the
Philippine Authorities to serve as a mechanism by which the Army could assess future claims.
Over the years, the U.S. Army spent a significant amount of time reviewing its
qualifying service verification policies and procedures for potential USAFFE and
non-USAFFE Filipino Guerillas. Changing the validation process for potential Filipino Veterans of World War II could result in inequity between special population
groups associated with other past conflicts and could generate an unprecedented
number of new claims that could not be verified given the passage of time. The current process has been well-tested and has proven to be effective and efficient in ensuring that the service of claimants is properly authenticated with a view to ensuring that claimants receive all benefits to which they may be entitled.
S. 889, SERVICEMEMBERS CHOICE OF TRANSITION ACT OF 2013
While we support the premise of this legislation, namely to ensure Servicemembers are informed of their GI Bill benefits and how to access those benefits to
support the attainment of their educational goals, we believe adding more time to
the existing Transition curriculum as stated in Section 10 is not the best approach.
The VA currently provides GI Bill benefits information within the mandatory (VOW
Act) Transition VA Benefits briefings and we believe the best approach is to leverage and build on the existing curriculum to ensure Servicemembers are well informed of how to access their GI Bill Benefits to support the attainment of their
educational goals. Additionally, the testing provision contained in section 2(a)(3) duplicates the admissions testing process already in place at academic institutions requiring admissions testing. Moreover, requiring Servicemembers to take a test, as
required by this legislation, when they are applying to institutions of higher learning that do not require such a test for admission, places an undue burden and potential additional costs on Servicemembers, which their non-Servicemember counterparts are not required to bear.
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JUDITH T. WON PAT, ED.D., OFFICE

32ND GUAM LEGISLATURE
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ATTACHMENTS:
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FROM
REV. DR. C. WELTON GADDY, PRESIDENT,

INTERFAITH ALLIANCE
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OF IRAQ AND
Bill #
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AFGHANISTAN VETERANS
Bill Name
OF
AMERICA
Sponsor
Position
S. 6
Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2013 .......................................................
Reid
S. 200
Bill to authorize the interment in national cemeteries individuals who served in

combat support of the Armed Forces of Laos.
Murkowski
No Position
S. 257
GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013 ...........................................................................
Boozman
Support
S. 262
Veterans Education Equity Act of 2013 ......................................................................
Durbin
No Position
S. 294
Ruth Moore Act of 2013 ..............................................................................................
Tester
Support
S. 373
Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2013 ................................
Shaheen
Support
S. 430
Veterans Small Business Opportunity and Protection Act of 2013 ...........................
Heller
Support
S. 492
Bill to require States to recognize the military experience of veterans when

issuing licenses and credentials to veterans.
Burr
Support
S. 495
Careers for Veterans Act of 2013 ...............................................................................
Burr
S. 514
Bill to provide additional educational assistance to veterans pursuing STEM and

other high-demand occupation degrees.
Brown
No Position
S. 515
Bill to extend the Yellow Ribbon G.I. Education Enhancement Program ...................
Brown
Support
S. 572
Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act ..............................................................
Burr
Support
S. 629
Honor Americas Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2013 ...............................................
Pryor
Support
S. 674
Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013 .....................................................................
Heller
Support
S. 690
Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2013 ......................................................................
Schatz
No Position
S. 695
Veterans Paralympic Act of 2013 ...............................................................................
Boozman
S. 705
War Memorial Protection Act of 2013 .........................................................................
Burr
S. 735
Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013 ...............................................................
Sanders
Support
S. 748
Veterans Pension Protection Act .................................................................................
Wyden
Support
S. 778
Veterans ID Card Act ..................................................................................................
Burr
Support
S. 819
Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act of 2013 ................................................
Burr
Support
S. 863
Veterans Back to School Act of 2013 .........................................................................
Blumenthal
Support
S. 868
Filipino Veterans Promise Act .....................................................................................
Heller
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Support
Support
No Position
No Position
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PREPARED STATEMENT
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Bill #
Bill Name
Sponsor
Position
S. 889
Servicemembers Choice in Transition Act of 2013 ...................................................
Boozman
Support
S. 893
Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013 ..............................
Sanders
Support
S. 894
Bill to extend the VAs work-study allowance program and expand the program to
include outreach within Congressional offices.
Sanders
Support
S. 922
Veterans Equipped for Success Act of 2013 ..............................................................
Sanders
Support
S. 927
Bill to require the VA to carry out a demonstration project to increase awareness

of benefits and services.
Sanders
Support
S. 928
Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013 ............................................................
Sanders
Review
S. 932
Putting Veterans Funding First Act of 2013 ..............................................................
Begich
Support
S. 935
Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act .......................................................................
Franken
Support
S. 938
Franchise Education for Veterans Act of 2013 ..........................................................
Moran
Support
S. 939
Bill to treat certain misfiled documents as motions for reconsideration of decisions by the Board of Veterans Appeals.
Blumenthal
Support
S. 944
Bill to require courses of education provided by public institutions of higher education to charge veterans tuition at the in-state rate.
Sanders
No Position
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, and Distinguished Members of the

Committee: On behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), I would
like to extend our gratitude for being given the opportunity to share with you our
views and recommendations regarding these important pieces of legislation.
IAVA is the Nations first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their supporters. Founded in 2004,
our mission is critically important but simpleto improve the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families. With a steadily growing base of over 200,000
members and supporters, we strive to help create a society that honors and supports
veterans of all generations.
IAVA strongly believes that all veterans must have access to quality health care,
education, and employment resources. The men and women who volunteer to serve
in our Nations military do so with the understanding that they and their families
will be cared for as promised both during their period of service and after their period of service as well. IAVA stands with you in faithfully supporting legislation that
helps to accomplish these goals.
S. 6
IAVA supports S. 6, the Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2013, which
would extend critical aspects of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act and the Wounded Warrior Act. This bill will make a difference for veterans who are currently unemployed
and servicemembers who will be entering the civilian workforce in the future. By
passing the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, Congress sent veterans a clear message
weve got your back. This legislation contains critical provisions that we believe will
help veterans find jobs, and it could not have come at a better time. Veteran unemployment still remains high, but Congress has recognized that the greatest investment they could make is supporting the New Greatest Generation. This bill forwards that goal.
S. 200
IAVA has no position on S. 200, which would make an individual eligible for interment in a national cemetery if they served in combat in support of the Armed
Forces of Laos between February 28, 1961, and May 15, 1975, and at the time of
death the individual was a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted alien.
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S. 257
IAVA strongly supports S. 257, the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013, which
would grant in-state status at public colleges and universities for all veterans using
the GI Bill. For those who elect to return to school after completing their military
service obligations, the GI Bill has been a remarkable personal development and
economic mobility tool for our Nations veterans, and a tremendously successful investment for our country. The new, Post-9/11 GI Bill in particular has also been a
tremendous boon for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who deserve the
same opportunities and adjusted benefit levels as were afforded to veterans of previous generations.
But with the entry of millions of new veterans into the ranks of those now utilizing their earned education benefits, the need for various adjustments and fixes
to the program have come to light over the years. Given that Congress and the
American people agree that all veterans deserve a fair opportunity to be able to utilize their benefits without undue hardship, this body has generally been amenable
to quickly addressing these various issues as they have come up. S. 257 would fix
another one of these benefit access and utilization issues by allowing veterans to
attend public colleges and universities at their respective in-state rates and, thereby, actually be able to afford to go to school and live comfortably using their Post9/11 GI Bill benefits.
Because of the nature of military service, servicemembers are required to move
around according to the needs of their service. Typically that means they are forced
to settle down and reside for years in communities outside of their original state
of residence. Servicemembers who are stationed at a particular base or post may
live in that state for years, buy a home in that state, shop and pay local taxes to
that state, raise a family in that state, and generally become part of the community
in that locale. However, that servicemember is technically still not considered a resident of that state. So if he or she retires or ends his or her term of service in that
state and wants to stay local and go back to school as a new veteran in the place
where he or she has already functionally settled, that servicemember would nevertheless be considered a non-resident as a new veteran there and would be forced
to pay the often-exorbitant out-of-state tuition rates for his or her education there.
Veterans who wind up living in an area outside of their home states through no
fault or choice of their own because of the obligations associated with serving their
country in uniform should not be denied the opportunity to use their deserved and
earned education benefits to cover the full cost of their education in an area where
they have already become functionalbut not technicalresidents simply because
of their military service. This bill would remedy that gap in tuition and residency
fairness and ensure that all veterans can take advantage of the promise of the Post9/11 GI Bill without undue hardship.
S. 262
IAVA has no position on S. 262, the Veterans Education Equity Act of 2013,
would allow veterans who are considered non-residents of the state school they attend to receive up to $18,077 in tuition benefits, the same benefit that would be
available to that veteran if attending a private institution. IAVA supports the residency and tuition issues that S. 262, aims to solve. However, it is IAVAs belief that
the method for resolving these issues laid forth in this bill is not the most viable
and beneficial solution available for veterans. IAVA feels that better solutions exist,
such as those covered in S. 257, but we nevertheless recognize and support the mutual goal of both pieces of legislation.
S. 294
IAVA supports S. 294, the Ruth Moore Act of 2013, which would change the
standard of proof so that official records are not required to sufficiently document
an incident of military sexual trauma (MST) to the VA. Creating, obtaining or maintaining official records of MST has proven difficult for many victims over the years.
As a result of this bill, veterans who say they were victims of MST would have their
claim accepted if a mental health professional says their condition is consistent with
sexual trauma and that other evidence does not rebut their claim. This legislation
would shift the burden of proof by directing decisions to be resolved with every reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran.
For years, combat veterans also faced similar problems as Military Sexual Trauma (MST) survivors in claiming benefits by having to provide documentation of a
combat event that led to their PTSD. On numerous occasions, tangible documentation was incredibly difficult to produce. To address this, the VA made changes that
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allowed veterans personal accounts of the incident(s) to serve as sufficient proof of
a traumatic event if accompanied by diagnosis of PTSD and a medical link. The
Ruth Moore Act would apply these same practices and principles to victims of MST.
S. 373
IAVA supports S. 373, the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act
of 2013, which would make additional benefits available to all military spouses and
families. This bill would require the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs
to honor any marriage that has been legally recognized by a state and provide a
number of key benefits to the spouses of all servicemembers.
This bill is a natural extension of our mission to advocate for the best interests
of our troops, veterans and their families. IAVA supports equality under the law for
every member of our community. No servicemember or veteran should ever be treated as a second-class citizen by our country. However, when the family of any member of the Armed Forces is denied benefits, thats exactly what happens. This policy
undermines the morale and welfare of our troops and, by extension, the readiness
of our Armed Forces.
S. 430
IAVA supports S. 430, the Veterans Small Business Opportunity and Protection
Act of 2013, which would allow small businesses bequeathed to spouses and dependents of veterans and of servicemembers killed in the line of duty to be treated as
disabled veteran-owned small businesses for the purpose of VA contracting goals
and preferences. In the troubling time following the death of a family member, surviving spouses and dependents need as much assistance as we can provide. This legislation would ensure that the VAs useful small-business benefits and incentives get
passed on to those spouses and dependents and that this critical source of family
income can be sustained.
S. 492
IAVA supports S. 492, which would enhance the transition of servicemembers to

the civilian workforce and help reduce the veteran unemployment rate. Todays veterans are highly skilled and better trained than ever, yet their unemployment rate
remains high. This legislation would require a state to issue a license or credential
to a veteran who has already passed the necessary exams within that state and has
demonstrated use of the specific skill while a member of the Armed Forces. Thus,
it would eliminate certain unnecessary and repetitive steps that veterans encounter
too frequently in todays job market.
S. 495
IAVA supports S. 495, the Careers for Veterans Act, which would require the Director of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to coordinate with Federal agencies and departments to hire 10,000 veterans to fill existing vacancies over the next
five years. The bill would also require the Secretary of Labor to establish a one-stop
job search center with a list of all Web sites and applications identified as beneficial
for veterans trying to navigate their way through the job market. This bill would
help create long-term, sustainable jobs for Americas veterans by transitioning the
skills they gained through their service into jobs in the civilian workforce. By making licenses and credentials in their chosen fields more accessible, this bill is a rational approach to addressing the long-term employment needs of our Nations
veterans.
S. 514
At this point in time, IAVA has no position on S. 514, which would allow the VA
to provide greater levels of assistance to those veterans pursuing science, technology, engineering, math degrees than it does to veterans pursuing programs of
higher education in other fields.
S. 515
IAVA supports S. 515, which would make the child of an individual who died
while serving on active duty eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program. The Yellow
Ribbon Program has received much attention and many accolades since its inception. This program is designed to help bridge the gap caused by schools charging
tuition and fees higher than the Post-9/11 GI Bill would cover. The Yellow Ribbon
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Program of the Post-9/11 GI Bill will help make graduate schools and private universities more affordable for a veterans surviving family member.
S. 572
IAVA supports S. 572, the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, which
would end a capricious process through which the government strips veterans and
other VA beneficiaries of their Second Amendment rights. Veterans who have a had
fiduciary appointed to act on their behalf on financial matters are reported to the
FBIs National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), a system which
prevents individuals from purchasing firearms in the United States. The Veterans
Second Amendment Protection Act would require a judicial authority to determine
that a VA beneficiary poses a danger to himself or others before VA may send their
names to be listed in the FBIs NICS.
S. 629
IAVA supports S. 629, the Honor Americas Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2013,
which would grant full veteran status to members of the Guard and Reserve components who have served at least 20 years, but who were not called up for active duty.
The men and women who have served in uniform for 20 or more years as Guard
or Reserve members should be recognized as military veterans too, but are being
overlooked. This legislation corrects that error. We must honor the sacred contract
between a grateful nation and all veterans who make unselfish sacrifices in defense
of freedom.
S. 674
IAVA supports S. 674, the Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013, which would
require prompt responses from covered Federal agencies when those agencies are
asked for information necessary to adjudicate claims by the VA. According to the
VAs own figures, nearly 70 percent of claims are backlogged, a number that is unacceptably high. Such long wait times can delay the dispensing of benefits and the
awarding of compensation and, in turn, can have a devastating impact on veterans
and their families.
In order to reduce the wait time that veterans are facing during the claims process, this legislation would hold agencies accountable on the submission of requested
evidence in a timely manner. This accountability will help accelerate the claims
process by ensuring that the necessary medical information has been collected to
produce an accurate disability rating. This legislation would also keep veterans better informed about the status of their claims. Any effort that can make the claims
process more efficient and more lucid will have a positive impact on the livelihood
of our veterans.
S. 690
At this point in time, IAVA has no position on S. 690, the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2013, which would adjust the disbursement of benefits for certain veterans of WWII. As always, IAVA is incredibly humbled by the display of patriotism
from those who served our country in a time of war across all generations.
S. 695
IAVA supports S. 695, the Veterans Paralympic Act of 2013, which would extend
through the 2018 fiscal year a joint program operated by the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Olympic Committee that funds grants to a host of
adaptive sports programs for disabled veterans across the country. The bill would
ensure that disabled veterans in local communities throughout the country continue
to have opportunities for rehabilitation, stress relief, and higher achievement
through adaptive sports.
S. 705
IAVA has no position on S. 705, the War Memorial Protection Act of 2013, which
would ensure that memorials commemorating the service of the United States
Armed Forces may contain religious symbols. Nevertheless, IAVA strongly believes
that American military memorials stand as an important public reminder of the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform.
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S. 735
IAVA supports S. 735, the Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013, which
would expand benefits for surviving spouses and continue to enhance the VAs ability to ensure that a veterans family members are able to establish some stability
in their lives after sacrificing so much. This bill would provide grief counseling in
retreat settings to survivors whose spouses died while on active duty; expand benefits for children with Agent Orange-related spina bifida, to include those whose parent or parents served in Thailand; extend supplemental payments to survivors with
children for five years after the veterans death instead of the current two; and
change remarriage rules so that survivors who remarry can continue receiving benefits under the same rules that apply to other Federal benefits. Current rules cancel
benefits for a spouse who remarries before age 57, but allow benefits to be restarted
if the marriage ends. This bill would change the age to 55.
S. 748
IAVA supports S. 748, the Veterans Pension Protection Act, which would help discourage abuses within the low-income veterans pension program by establishing a
three-year look back period for individuals applying for benefits. By strengthening
the pension program and implementing protections to put a stop to abuse, this bill
would safeguard pension benefits so they would be there for those who genuinely
need them.
S. 778
IAVA supports S. 778, the Veterans ID Card Act, which would provide a simple
mechanism by which those who served could readily prove their status as veterans.
Currently only veterans who served at least 20 years or who have a service-connected disability are able to get an ID card from the VA establishing their service.
The only option available for all other veterans is to carry a DD214, which is impractical and unrealistic. This bill would make the veteran ID card available to all
who served.
S. 819
IAVA supports S. 819, the Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act of 2013,
which would place a stronger emphasis on treating veterans with mental health disorders and would also provide prevention and wellness incentives for veterans to
seek treatment. Should a veteran choose to enroll in the voluntary program, that
veteran would work with a VA clinician to develop an individual mental health
treatment plan. A veteran who is diagnosed with a service-connected mental health
issue (i.e. PTSD, anxiety, depression) would be eligible for enrollment, regardless of
his or her disability claim status.
S. 863
IAVA supports S. 863, the Veterans Back to School Act of 2013, which would
eliminate the time restriction on using Montgomery GI Bill benefits. Those benefits
currently expire ten years from the date that an individual separates from the military. This legislation would allow education benefits to expire ten years from the
date of first use, which would give veterans greater flexibility to take advantage of
their benefits.
This legislation would also reauthorize the Veterans Education Outreach Program
(VEOP) to provide funding for campus-based outreach services to veterans. VEOP
provided formula grants to institutions of higher education based on the number of
enrolled veterans receiving veterans educational benefits or vocational rehabilitation services. After more than 12 years of war, more and more veterans are going
back to school, and this legislation would help expand veterans education outreach
and further enrich veterans academic endeavors.
S. 868
IAVA has no position on S. 868, the Filipino Veterans Promise Act, which would
require the DOD to collaborate with military historians on a process to potentially
make adjustments to the Approved Revised Reconstructed Guerilla Roster of 1948,
also known as the Missouri List. As always, IAVA is incredibly humbled by the
display of patriotism from those who served our country so bravely in a time of war.
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S. 889
IAVA supports S. 889, the Servicemembers Choice in Transition Act of 2013,

which would enhance the content of the Transition Assistance Program for servicemembers who are preparing to reintegrate into the civilian world, go back to school
using their VA education benefits, and/or enter the civilian job market. This bill constitutes a positive step in the right direction toward equipping troops with the
knowledge and skills they need to be successful as new veterans.
We cannot simply turn new veterans loose into the civilian world and expect them
to be successful, just as we would not release them as new troops onto a battlefield
without proper acculturation and training. A strong, comprehensive, substantive,
and consistent Transition Assistance Program is vital to ensuring servicemembers
successful transition back into civilian life, and to ensuring the security and stability of their families.
S. 893
IAVA supports S. 893, the Veterans Compensation Cost of Living Adjustment Act
of 2013, which would give qualified disabled veterans and their dependents annual
Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) adjustments starting in December 2013. Tough
economic times have placed a heavy burden on our wounded veterans and the limited resources they are afforded. IAVA believes this piece of legislation will help protect the financial stability of our disabled veterans and their families as costs increase over time.
S. 894
IAVA supports S. 894, which would extend the VAs work-study allowance program to 2016 and expand the program to include outreach within Congressional offices. This outreach would include distributing necessary information to servicemembers and veterans as well as their dependents about the benefits and services
available through the VA as well as preparing any paperwork related to claims benefits. IAVA believes that this bill would benefit veterans by granting them valuable
experience in the Federal Government and will benefit Congressional offices by substantially increasing the number of veterans helping other veterans.
S. 922
IAVA supports S. 922, the Veterans Equipped for Success Act of 2013. As Congress knows well, todays veterans are highly skilled and better trained than ever
before, yet their unemployment rate remains far too high. While the most recent unemployment statistics show promising indications of increasing opportunities for our
nations veterans, younger veterans are still experiencing difficulty finding adequate
employment in the current job market. Addressing this problem remains a top priority for the veteran community, and IAVA supports this legislation because it will
provide employment resources to veterans in general and to younger veterans
specifically.
S. 927
IAVA supports S. 927, the Veterans Outreach Act of 2013, which would require
the VA to carry out a demonstration project to increase awareness of benefits and
services. Too often, veterans express frustration about not knowing if the VA is capable of providing assistance on a variety of issues. Part of the VAs mission is to
make veterans lives better by getting them the right information about their benefits at the right time.
IAVA welcomes legislative proposals focused on better informing veterans about
the benefits and services available to them from the VA. Further, IAVA supports
the continued establishment and strengthening of partnerships between the VA and
other state, local, and non-governmental organizations for the benefit of Americas
veterans, which this bill aims to accomplish.
S. 928
IAVA supports S. 928, the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013. Far too
many veterans are stuck in the VAs claims backlog and their numbers have been
increasing exponentially over the past few years. At present, over 860,000 VA claims
are pending and over 569,000 (or 66.2%) of those claims are backlogged. This legislation would offer a wide array of support and solutions to help improve VA claimsrelated processes and capabilities, expand veterans ability to conveniently appeal
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claims decisions, and provide for extensions of other important benefits and
authorities.
Of particular note within this bill is the establishment of working groups and task
forces which collectively would mirror the work and resemble the constitution of the
backlog commission or task force for which IAVA has been advocating. However,
rather than a piecemeal approach to the establishment of these entities, IAVA supports a comprehensive approach under the authority of one task force. Since the
problems related to the conditions under which the claims backlog has grown to
such immense proportions are systemic and multidimensional, IAVA favors a comprehensive look at these problems and comprehensive solutions rather than a piecemeal approach.
Ending the disability claims backlog is one of IAVAs top priorities. As such, IAVA
encourages the adoption of solid legislation that would provide long-term support
and solutions to improve the timeliness and accuracy of VA disability claims processing, expand appeals rights for veterans, and improve upon other benefits and authorities designed to serve veterans and their families.
S. 932
IAVA supports S. 932, the Putting Veterans Funding First Act, which would require Congress to fully fund the Department of Veterans Affairs discretionary budget a year in advance, ensuring that all VA accounts will have predictable funding
in an era where continuing resolutions and threats of government shutdowns are
all too frequent. Americas veterans have already paid their debt to this country and
in return for their service, our Nation promised them care and benefits to help transition back into civilian life. This bill would fulfill that obligation by ensuring that
crucial VA services are not affected by Washingtons partisan budgetary oscillations,
and that the care and benefits veterans have earned are delivered to them in a
timely manner.
S. 935
IAVA supports S. 935, the Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013, which
would prevent the VA from requesting a medical examination to further assess a
disability if a veteran submits medical evidence provided by a competent, credible,
probative, and otherwise adequate non-VA medical professional in support of a disability claim. This legislation would require the VA to maximize the use of private
medical evidence, which would conserve VA resources and enable swifter, more accurate rating decisions for veterans. VA should be a beneficial resource and efficient
adjudicator, not a veterans biggest obstacle to disability compensation.
S. 938
IAVA supports S. 938, the Franchise Education for Veterans Act of 2013, which
would allow veterans interested in purchasing a business franchise to use up to
$15,000 in VA educational assistance program funds to pay for franchise education
and training programs. IAVA believes that veterans can benefit from such programs
just as much as they can benefit from other programs and courses of study for
which VA educational assistance can be utilized, and that a greater array of such
educational and training programs will encourage veterans to start business that
will improve their own livelihoods as well as the overall health of the American
economy.
S. 939
IAVA supports S. 939, which would protect a veterans appeal rights before the
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims when the veteran mistakenly
files a document with the VA and the document is not transmitted to the appropriate office in a timely fashion. This bill would instead treat that document as a
motion for reconsideration before the Court of an adverse decision by the Board of
Veterans Appeals in certain circumstances. The failure of VA to notify a veteran
promptly of a filing error or to forward the document to the appropriate court or
office should not deprive a veteran of the right to have a case reviewed on appeal.
The VA should be a beneficial resource and a veterans strongest advocate, not an
obstacle to compensation or care.
S. 944
At this point in time, IAVA has no position on S. 944, the Veterans Educational
Transition Act of 2013, which would require courses of education provided by public
institutions of higher education to charge veterans tuition at the in-state rate as
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long as the veteran separated within the last two years before enrollment. IAVA
supports the tuition issue that S. 944 aims to solve. However, it is IAVAs belief that
the method for resolving the issue put forth in this bill is not the most viable and
beneficial solution available for veterans. IAVA feels that better solutions exist, such
as those covered in S. 257, but we nevertheless recognize and support the mutual
goal of both pieces of legislation.
We again appreciate the opportunity to offer our views on these important pieces
of legislation, and we look forward to continuing to work with each of you, your
staff, and the Committee to improve the lives of veterans and their families. Thank
you for your time and attention.
LETTER
FROM
PHILIP SMITH, NATIONAL LIAISON & WASHINGTON, DC, DIRECTOR,

LAO VETERANS OF AMERICA
LAO VETERANS OF AMERICA, INC.
Washington, DC, May 15, 2013.
Hon. BERNARD SANDERS

Chairman,
Committee on Veterans Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
RE: MAY 15, 2013, HEARING ON PENDING VETERANS BENEFITS LEGISLATION
& S. 690, THE FILIPINO VETERANS FAIRNESS ACT OF 2013.
DEAR CHAIRMAN SANDERS, VICE CHAIRMAN BURR AND SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: On behalf of the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA) and
the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), the Nations largest Laotian and
Hmong-American veterans organizations with over 55,000 members across the
United States, we write in support of important legislation S. 690, The Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2013, introduced by Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii.
The Filipino Scouts, and Filipino veterans, are indeed special heroes that deserve
the attention and support of this Committee. These veterans courageously served
in bloody defense of the Philippines, and Americas Armed Forces, during World
War II, and the brutal invasion and occupation of their island homelands by Imperial Japanese Army and naval forces. The Filipino veterans endured unspeakable
suffering and helped turn the tide of battle. These veterans deserve the full support
of the United States, and the U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
We appeal to you Chairman Sanders, Vice Chairman Burr, and all of the Senate
Veterans Affairs Committee Members, to act decisively, and unanimously, in support of passage of S. 690, The Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2013. It is critical
for America to provide long-overdue fairness, and full veterans benefits, to all Filipino veterans who served during World War II.
Time is running out for these elderly Filipino veterans and their families from
World War II.
We sincerely appreciate Senator Brian Shatzs leadership on this important matter as well as the work of his staff on this issue.
Like the Filipino veterans of World War II, the Lao and Hmong veterans served
in defense of freedom and Americas interests in Southeast Asia when they were
under relentless and bloody attack. Laotian and Hmong veterans uniquely served
in the U.S. Secret Army defending the Kingdom of Laos and U.S. national security
interests during intense combat the Vietnam War. The Lao and Hmong veterans
truly know, understand and appreciate the full meaning of sacrifice on behalf of the
defense of their homeland and the United States, having shed much blood and tears,
and having saved the lives of many American soldiers, pilots and aircrews in defense of freedom.
The Lao- and Hmong-American veterans of Americas war in Indochina, respectfully and humbly submit this appeal to you in support of S. 690 and all of the Filipino veterans of World War II. Please do not forget them, especially as Senator
Schatz and others seek to memorialize the American and Filipino victims of the Bataan Death March.
We hope that the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and the U.S. Senate, will
immediately act to pass this important legislation.
Sincerely,
PHILIP SMITH,
National Liaison & Washington, DC, Director.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF SCOTT LEVINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS
CENTER, NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
Thank you, Chairman Sanders, for giving me the opportunity to discuss S. 674,
Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is deeply committed to serving our Nations veterans and supporting the needs of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
NARAs National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) provides storage and reference services on the military personnel and medical records of nearly 60 million
veterans. The center responds to approximately 5,000 requests each day. Most requests come directly from veterans and their next of kin; however, NPRC receives
approximately 1,250 requests per day from the VA for the temporary loan of original
records needed to adjudicate claims.
The VA has a liaison office co-located at the NPRC facility and the two offices
work closely to ensure VAs prompt access to essential records. During the first 35
weeks of fiscal year 2013 NPRC responded to nearly 218,000 requests from the VA.
The average response time has been 2.2 workdays.
Recognizing the importance of providing timely access to records, NPRC has
worked with the VA to develop a process that enables the electronic transmission
of requests, prompt delivery of responsive records, bar code tracking of records, and
electronic status updates. Our systems are designed to accommodate the receipt and
processing of bulk electronic files created by the VA, which include hundreds (sometimes thousands) of new requests each day. The VA is also able to submit individual
requests electronically. Automatic email notifications are sent to acknowledge the
receipt of new requests. If our systems determine that a responsive record is temporarily unavailable, the request is placed on backorder for thirty days or until the
record is returned to file, whichever is sooner. In instances where a responsive
record is not immediately available (approximately 5% of requests), electronic notifications are made to the VA.
In addition to providing status updates through an electronic portal available to
VA users, we also provide the VA with direct access to our production system. This
access enables VA staff to delve deeper into order fulfillment details concerning specific requests and to run ad hoc queries and reports concerning work volumes and
response times.
NPRC also has a staff member appointed to serve as a liaison with the VA to ensure continuous, effective communication concerning fluctuations in workload, troubleshooting system issues, or any other issues involving service delivery to the VA.
NPRC is already exceeding the response time and notification standards outlined
in S. 674 and should be able to continuously meet the requirements going forward.
NPRC is committed to serving Americas veterans and proud of its efforts to effectively support the VA in doing the same. We hope this information is helpful; we
appreciate your interest in this important subject.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF PETER J. DUFFY, COL., US ARMY (RET.), LEGISLATIVE
DIRECTOR, NATIONAL GUARD ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES
Thank you for all you have done for our veterans since 9/11 and for this opportunity to present this statement for the record.
BACKGROUNDUNIQUE CITIZEN SERVICEMEMBER/VETERAN
The National Guard is unique among components of the Department of Defense

(DOD) in that it has the dual state and Federal missions. While serving operationally on Title 10 active duty status in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation
Enduring Freedom (OEF), National Guard units are under the command and control of the President. However, upon release from active duty, members of the National Guard return as veterans to the far reaches of their states, where most continuing to serve in over 3,000 armories across the country under the command and
control of their Governors. As a special branch of the Selected Reserves they train
not just for their Federal missions, but for their potential state active duty missions
such as fire fighting, flood control, and providing assistance to civil authorities in
a variety of possible disaster scenarios.
Since 9/11, over a half a million National Guard members have deployed in contingency operations to gain veteran status. When they return from deployment, they
are not located within the closed structure of a 24/7 supported active military installation, but rather reside in their home town communities where they rely heavily
on the medical support of the Veterans Administration (VA) when they can overcome time and distance barriers to obtain it.
Using the National Guard as an operational force requires a more accessible mental health program for members and their families post-deployment in order both
to provide the care they deserve as veterans and to maintain the necessary medical
readiness required by deployment cycles. It cannot be a simple post-deployment
send off by the active military of Good job. See you in five years. To create a seamless medical transition from active duty to the VA, an improved medical screening
of our members before they are released from active duty is essential to identify the
medical issues that will be passed to the VA. The Department of Defense must also
recognize its responsibility of sharing the burden with the VA in funding mental
health care for our National Guard members between deployments.
The Department of Defense must also be called to task for the mishandling and
disappearance of National Guard medical records in the OIF/OEF theaters and the
shoddy administration of Guard and Reserve demobilization. Statistics published
last year by the VA show that the VA denies National Guard and Reserve disability
benefit compensation claims at four times the rate of those filed by active duty veterans. Lacking clear records to establish the service connection for their injuries,
our Guard members face failure when they later file their VA disability claims for
undocumented physical and behavioral injuries. This is a blot on the integrity of our
Federal Government in its treatment of our veterans. This Committee must seriously and separately in another hearing consider legislation to establish a presumption of service connection for certain war common injuries of National Guard and
Reserve veterans who later file disability benefit compensation claims based upon
those injuries.
Military service in the National Guard is uniquely community based. The culture
of the National Guard remains little understood outside of its own circles. When the
Department of Defense testifies before Congress stating its programmatic needs, it
will likely recognize the indispensable role of the more cost efficient National Guard
as a vital operational force, but it will say little about, and seek less to, redress the
benefit disparities, training challenges, and unmet medical readiness issues for National Guard members and their families at the state level before, during, and after
deployment. We continue to ask Congress to give the Guard a fresh look with the
best interests of the National Guard members, their families, and the defense of the
homeland in mind.
CORRECT THE DISPRPORTIONATE DENIAL RATE FOR RESERVE COMPONENT VETERANS
DISABILITY BENEFIT COMPENSATION CLAIMS WITH SERVICE-CONNECTION PRESUMPTIONS FOR KEY INJURIES
According to Veterans Administration statistics published in May 2012, it is denying adjudicated disability benefit compensation claims for Reserve Component (RC)
Global War on Terror at four times the rate of active duty GWOT veterans according to a published VA May 2012 report.
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Years of neglect in the Office of the Secretary of Defense with the demobilization
process for RC members returning home from GWOT deployment and the inadequate capturing of theater medical records for the RC have come home to roost.
Area theater commands in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring
Freedom did not establish a reliable method for preserving in-theater records of the
RC. Congress heard testimony during the peak years of OIF in 2007 that some
medically evacuated RC members sometimes returned stateside with medical
records resting on their supine chests.
Moreover, too many members of the Guard and Reserve have been allowed to slip
through the medical cracks at demobilization stations resulting in widespread under
identification of service-connected injuries at that critical separation point.
A variety of reasons were at play to include inadequate screening by medical personnel at the demobilization site; the reluctance of returning members to report disabling injuries at distant demobilization sites to avoid the risk of further separations from home after lengthy deployments; or simply the late onset of symptoms
after discharge from exposures to chemical hazards, Traumatic Brain Injury or Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The six most frequent injuries for which the VA awards disability benefit compensation are tinnitus; back or cervical strain; PTSD; leg flexion limitations; degenerative spinal arthritis; of the spine; and migraine. Service connection presumptions
for these injuries presented for RC GWOT veterans would help to mitigate the disproportionate denial rate afflicting Guard and Reserve disability benefit compensation claims.
PASS S. 629 TO BESTOW VETERAN STATUS ON NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE MILITARY
MEMBERS WITH 20 YEARS OF SERVICE
NGAUS in concert with The Military Coalition has long sought legislation authorizing veteran status under Title 38 for National Guard and Reserve members of the
Armed Forces who are entitled to a non-regular retirement under Chapter 1223 of
10 U.S.C. but were never called to title10 active service other than for training purposes during their careersthrough no fault of their own.
Many Members of Congress may not know that a reservist can complete a full
Guard or Reserve career but not earn the title of Veteran of the Armed Forces of
the United States, unless the member has served on Title 10 active duty for other
than training purposes.
Drill training, annual training, and title 32 service responding to domestic natural
disasters and defending our Nations airspace, borders and coastlines do not qualify
for veteran status.
Reserve-component members who served 20 years gave the government a blank
check to send them anywhere in the world but through no fault of their own were
never deployed or in some cases even allowed to be deployed.
Yet, an active-duty member whose entire short-term enlistment tour is spent in
less rigorous domestic assignments to domestic posts and bases on Title 10 status
will fully qualify, not just for veterans status, but for all veterans benefits. This disparity is unfair and must end.
S. 629 would not bestow any benefits other than the honor of claiming veteran
status for those who honorably served and sacrificed as career reserve component
members but were never ordered to Title 10 active service. They deserve nothing
less than this recognition. Authorizing veteran status for career RC service would
substantially boost the morale of the RC without a cost consequence.
Opposition to this bill in the past has been grounded in a myth that passage
would open the floodgates of new veteran benefits for this group. That is just not
the case or even allowable under the law. S. 629 explicitly guards against this possibility. Moreover, pay go laws in effect bar the default triggering of any new entitlements. It is time to move past the unfounded camels nose under the tent fear
that has held back this legislation. Its companion bill , H.R. 679, is poised to pass
the House imminently.
FULLY LEVERAGE THE VET CENTER MODEL
For behavioral support, Guard veterans often look to the stellar Vet Centers located throughout the country where they and their families can obtain confidential
peer to peer counseling as well as behavioral treatment from on site clinicians; telehealth programs; or from referrals to fee based clinicians paid for and pre approved
by the Vet Centers.
Confidentiality is vital in bringing our veterans still serving in the Guard to treatment in order to assuage real concerns about the sharing of medical records with
the Department of Defense which VA medical centers are authorized to do. The fee
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basing of referred care by the Vet Center to community providers establishes a
model for this Committee to consider expanding to close the treatment gaps in our
rural communities. A voucher program administered by the Vet Centers authorizing
paid for treatment to qualified community providers would maximize scheduling
flexibility and plug direct access gaps to care for our Guard veterans.
PASS S. 927 AND EXPAND ITS OUTREACH TO FUND COMMUNITY-BASED
MENTAL HEALTH CARE
S. 927 pending before this Committee reflects the need for the VA to better leverage and fund existing community resources in caring for our veterans. It warrants
immediate passage with an expanded feature that would fund veterans access to
community based care. Too often that care has relied on pro bono service providers
or state/community care facilities stressed for funding.
The issues of veterans unemployment and mental health maintenance cannot be
separated. Before veterans can maintain gainful employment in a challenging job
environment, they must be able to maintain a healthy mental status and establish
supportive social networks.
In 2007, the Rand Corporation published a study titled, The Invisible wounds of
War. It found that at the time 300,000 veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation enduring Freedom suffered from either PTSD or major depression. This
number can only have grown after five more years of war. The harmful effects of
these untreated invisible wounds on our veterans hinder their ability to reintegrate
with their families and communities, work productively, and to live independently
and peacefully.
Rand recommended that a network of local, state, and Federal resources centered
at the community level be available to deliver evidence-based care to veterans whenever and wherever they are located. Veterans must have the ability to utilize
trained and certified services in their communities. In addition to training providers, the VA must educate veterans and their families on how to recognize the
signs of behavioral illness and how and where to obtain treatment.
VA and Vet Center facilities are often located hundreds of miles from our National Guard veterans living in rural areas. Requiring a veteran, once employed, to
drive hundreds of miles to obtain care at a VA facility necessitates the veteran taking time off from work for reasons likely difficult to explain to an employer. Most
employees can ill afford to miss work, particularly after an extended absence from
deployment in the case of our Guard veterans. The VA needs to leverage community
resources to proactively engage veterans in caring for their mental health needs in
a confidential and convenient manner that does not require long distance travel or
delayed appointments.
To facilitate the leveraging of mental health care providers in our communities,
the VA through its Office of Mental Health Services or through its highly effective
Vet Centers can actively exercise its authority to contract with private entities in
local communities, or creatively implement a voucher program that would allow our
veterans to seek fee-based treatment locally with certified providers outside the
brick and mortar of the Veterans Administration facilities and even the Vet Centers.
The Vet Center in Spokane for example serves an area as big as the state of
Pennsylvania. It is not practical for veterans in this catchment area to drive hundreds of miles to seek counseling or behavioral clinical care. That Vet Center pre
screens fee based providers to whom it will refer veterans for confidential treatment
in its management area. It also monitors the process to make sure the veteran is
actually receiving care paid for by the Vet Center. This system already works. However, a voucher process would improve efficiencies by relieving the Vet Center of its
scheduling burden by allowing the veteran to directly make his or her own appointment with providers as needed.
The VA and Vet Centers also need to fully leverage existing state administrative
mental health and veteran networks. Working with the state mental health care
provider licensing authorities, community providers certified by the VA or Vet Center to treat veterans could be identified at the state agency level with vouchers to
pay for treatment by those providers. The various state departments of veterans affairs are often in a better position to effectively administer such outreach programs
given the more extensive lists of veterans in their sates than those possessed by the
VA or Vet Centers.
Several of our veterans have fallen through the cracks of the VA health care system, and will continue to do so. According to the Vietnam Veterans of America, last
year only 30% of our veteran population had enrolled in VA medical programs.
Many veterans end up in the care of state social service programs in cooperation
with state and national veteran organizations. The VA has the authority to assist
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in maintaining this safety net of care for veterans in a stressful economic climate
for our states with a voucher program or expanded contracting with private entities.
It needs to act.
HIPPA CONFIDENTIALITY MUST BE OBSERVED WITH MENTAL HEALTH CARE
Most of our National Guard veterans of OIF/OEF eligible for VA care post-deployment are still serving with their units and subject to redeployment. Given the evolving electronic medical records interoperability between the VA and the Department
of Defense (DOD), a confidentiality issue exists relative to mental health treatment
records for these veterans who remain in the military who do not want their records
shared by the VA with their military commanders for fear of career reprisals.
It is essential that HIPPA confidentiality be maintained by the VA for the mental
health treatment records of these veterans to encourage their treatment with VA
providers. Our Vet Centers already operate with full confidentiality which makes
them the service center of choice for Guard members who want to maintain confidentiality of their mental health counseling records to protect against perceived
negative repercussions in their units. HIPPA rules pragmatically require observance
of confidentiality but draw the line with patients who are dangers to themselves or
their communities whose cases must be reported.
It is critical that confidentiality be established as soon as possible legislatively
with the VA much the same as it is currently observed in Vet Centers. We believe
that the VA is operating under advice from its legal staff that all VA medical
records can be transferred to DOD. Lack of confidentiality will chill the treatment
process and is likely contributed to the under utilization of VA medical care by our
veterans.
REQUIRE THE VA TO FULLY IMPLEMENT SECTION 304 OF THE CAREGIVERS AND VETERANS OMNIBUS HEALTH SERVICES ACT 0F 2009, PUBLIC LAW 111163, TO PROVIDE
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO VETERANS OF OIF/OEF AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILY
MEMBERS VETERANS USING PRIVATE ENTITIES
Post-deployment, our National Guard members and their families heavily rely on
the VA for mental health care. Congress recognized as much in passing The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009, Public Law 111163, enacted May 6, 2010, now requires the VA to reach out not just to veterans but to
their immediate families as well to assist in the reintegration process.
The law also urged the VA Secretary to contract with community mental health
centers and other qualified entities to provide the subject services in areas the Secretary determines are not adequately served by other health care facilities or Vet
Centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is not clear how thoroughly the
VA has fully taken advantage of this authority to contract with private entities to
deliver community based mental health services.
Section 304 of the Family Caregiver Act required the VA to make full mental
health services available also to the immediate family members of OIF/OEF veteran
for three years post-deployment. However, the VA delayed for at least two years in
making the full range of its Office of Mental Health Services (OMHS) programs
available to immediate to families as required by Section 304. It is not clear today
that the program has been fully implemented.
Section 304 was enacted on May 6, 2010. For many, the three year post-deployment period will begin to lapse in 2013. The VA OMHS needed to fully comply with
Section 304 in a timely manner. Because the VAs unreasonably delayed implementation of this important program, this Committee needs to consider extending the
subject three year post-deployment limitation period another three years to allow
family members to access their care.
It also needs to lean harder on the VA to fully utilize its contracting authority
to better leverage private entities and to use a voucher system described above to
make community based treatment more accessible and convenient. Our veterans
and their immediate families may be a small subset, but they are worth it.
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MUST COOPERATIVELY WORK WITH THE VA IN SCREENING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE NEEDS OF OUR MEMBERS BEFORE THEY ARE RELEASED FROM ACTIVE DUTY
At all stages of PTSD and depression, treatment is time sensitive. However, this
is particularly important after onset, as the illness could persist for a lifetime if not
promptly and adequately treated, and could render the member permanently disabled. The effects of this permanent disability on the members entire family can
be devastating. It is absolutely imperative that members returning from deployment
be screened with full confidentiality at the home station while still on active duty
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by trained and qualified mental health care providers from VA staff and/or qualified
health care providers from the civilian community. These providers could include
primary care physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who have
training in assessing psychological health presentations. Prompt diagnosis and
treatment will help to mitigate the lasting effects of mental illness. This examination process must be managed by the VA in coordination with the National Guard
Director of Psychological Health for the respective state, and the states Department
of Mental Health to allow transition for follow up treatment by the full VA and civilian network of providers within the state.
As an American Legion staffer at Walter Reed once stated, the main problem for
Reserve Component injured servicemembers is that they are rushed out of the system before their service-connected injuries and disability claims have been resolved. Our injured members should not be given the bums rush and released
from active duty until a copy of their complete military medical file, including any
field treatment notes, has been transferred to the VA, their discoverable service-connected military medical issues have been identified, any service-connected VA disability physicals have been performed similar to what is provided to the active
forces before they are released from active duty, and the initial determination of any
service-connected VA disability claim has been rendered. Unless medically not feasible, our members should be retained on active duty in their home state for treatment to discourage them from reporting injures out of fear of being retained at a
distant demobilization site.
It is absolutely necessary to allow home station screening for all returning members by trained health care professionals who can screen, observe, and ask relevant
questions with the skill necessary to elicit medical issues either unknown to the
self-reporting member, or unreported for fear of being retained at a far removed demobilization site. In performing their due diligence before the issuance of an insurance policy, insurance companies do not allow individuals to self assess their health.
Neither should the military. If geographical separation from families is causing
some to underreport, or not report, physical or psychological combat injuries on the
PDHA, then continuing this process at the home station for those in need would
likely produce a better yield at a critical time when this information needs to be
captured in order for prompt and effective treatment to be administered.
Please see the copy of a November 5, 2008 electronic message to NGAUS from Dr.
Dana Headapohl set forth in the Appendix that still pertains. Dr. Headapohl strongly recommended a surveillance program for our members before they are released
from active duty. Dr. Headapohl opined then the obvious in stating that inadequate
medical screening of our members before they are released from active duty is unacceptable to a group that has been asked to sacrifice for our country. (emphasis
added)
CONCLUSION
Thank you for that you have done for our veterans since 9/11. Please view our
efforts as part of a customer feedback process to refine and improve the ongoing
vital and enormous undertaking of the VA. Our National Guard veterans, both still
serving and separated, will remain one of your largest base of customers who will
continue to require your attention. Thank you for this opportunity to present.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF ANGELA BAILEY, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, EMPLOYEE
SERVICES, AND CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL OFFICER, U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this statement for the record related to
the June 12, 2013 hearing on pending veterans benefits legislation. Specifically, the
Committee has requested the Office of Personnel Managements (OPMs) input on
section 2 of S. 495, the Careers for Veterans Act of 2013.
Our Nations veterans have sacrificed tremendously in service to our country, and
we have an obligation to support them upon their separation from the Armed
Forces. This Administration has supported that obligation repeatedly through the
years, and OPM has been a proud partner in the efforts to employ greater numbers
of veterans in the Federal workforce. While OPM believes that S. 495 is a well-intended bill, it is important to highlight existing work being carried out to employ
veterans with the Federal Government.
Presently, when applying for Federal employment, veterans may take advantage
of special hiring authorities for veterans. For example, a veteran applying for Federal employment may do so under the Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA).
It is an excepted authority that allows agencies to appoint eligible veterans without
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competition at any grade level up to and including GS11 or equivalent. VRA provides the opportunity for eligible veterans to train for two years in a position. Additionally, the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act of 1998 (VEOA), a competitive
service appointing authority used when filling permanent, competitive service positions, affords veterans the opportunity to compete with current Federal employees.
Veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled may be appointed non-competitively.
Disabled veterans may also use Schedule A appointing authority for an excepted
service appointment. Finally, disabled veterans who are eligible for training under
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) vocational rehabilitation program may enroll for training or work experience at an agency under the terms of an agreement
between the agency and VA.
In addition to the special hiring authorities, veterans have also been subject to
targeted outreach by the Administration. As part of these efforts, on November 9,
2009, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13518, Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government, which establishes the Veterans Employment Initiative (VEI). The VEI is a strategic approach to helping the men and women who
have served our country in the military find employment in the Federal Government. Under the VEI, OPM and partner agencies developed the Government-wide
Veterans Recruitment and Employment Strategic Plan for FY 1012, an important
tool in the implementation of the Presidents Executive Order. The plan outlined
strategies the Federal Government subsequently used to improve employment opportunities for veterans in the executive branch. Presently, the Veterans Recruitment and Employment Strategic Plan for FY 1315 is under development. Additionally, Veteran Employment Program Offices have been established in the 24 agencies
covered under Executive Order 13518. Further, OPM has created the Feds Hire
Vets Web site to provide a single point for providing veterans employment information to veterans, their families, and hiring managers. OPM has also created a Government-wide marketing campaign on the value of our veterans and toolkits were
provided to Federal agencies to aid in their efforts to hire veterans. Finally, OPM
conducted the Veterans Employment Symposium which provided essential learning
to human resources professionals and hiring managers. This symposium was followed by web-based training applications in the areas of veterans appointing authorities and veterans preference.
OPM has worked with other agencies on the implementation of the VOW (Veterans Opportunity to Work) To Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (the VOW Act). The VOW
Act, which requires Federal agencies to treat active duty servicemembers as veterans, disabled veterans, or preference eligibles for purposes of appointment in the
competitive service when these servicemembers submit a certification of expected
discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions along with their
applications for Federal employment, was passed in the last Congress and is another tool in assisting veterans in obtaining Federal employment.
The efforts of OPM and other Federal agencies, through the Council on Veterans
Employment, to employ veterans in Federal service are already paying dividends.
In FY 2012, veterans accounted for 28.9 percent of all new hires in the Federal Government which is the highest percentage of veteran new hires in the past twenty
years and exceeds FY 2011 which was the previous all-time high. Additionally, the
number of veterans in Federal employment has steadily grown from 25.8 percent
of the Federal workforce in FY 2009 to 29.7 percent in FY 2012. Since FY 2009,
263,754 new hires in the Federal Government have been veterans.
OPM welcomes efforts that support employment of veterans, and is actively engaged with agencies to increase the number of veterans in the Federal workforce.
This Administrations efforts in this regard are already showing results in numbers
well beyond the goals set forth in S. 495. We are concerned that the planning and
reporting requirements contained in the legislation would increase the workload for
agencies and detract from efforts already underway. OPM looks forward to continuing to work with this Committee on legislation that aims to assist veterans in
obtaining employment following their service for our country as members of the
Armed Forces.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF CAROLYN N. LERNER, SPECIAL COUNSEL,
UNITED STATES OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony on behalf of the Office
of Special Counsel (OSC) in connection with todays legislative hearing. OSC protects the merit system for over 2 million civilian employees in the Federal Government. Congress has tasked OSC with four distinct mission areas. First, we protect
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Federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, especially retaliation for
whistleblowing. Second, we provide a safe and secure channel for employees to disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and threats to public health or safety. Third, we enforce
the Hatch Act, which keeps the Federal workplace free from political coercion and
improper partisan politics. Finally, we are the primary enforcement agency for Federal sector claims under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment
Rights Act (USERRA).
USERRA protects the civilian employment and reemployment rights of those who
serve the United States in the Armed Forces, including the National Guard and Reserves. OSC plays a critical role in enforcing USERRA and helps to fulfill Congress
directive that the Federal Government serve as a model employer under the law.
This is especially important because the Federal Government is the largest civilian
employer of National Guard and Reserve members.
OSC receives referrals from the Department of Labor for representation of servicemembers and prosecution of USERRA violations. In addition, in August 2011, OSC
took on new responsibilities for USERRA enforcement under a Demonstration
Project. Under the project, OSC investigates over half of all Federal sector
USERRA claims. OSC recently piloted a novel, expeditious and low-cost approach
to resolving USERRA cases by using alternative dispute resolution. OSC has
achieved a 100% success rate using mediation to resolve servicemembers claims.
S. 6PUTTING OUR VETERANS BACK TO WORK ACT OF 2013
OSC strongly supports S. 6, the Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of
2013. Section 303 of S. 6 clarifies OSCs authority to subpoena the attendance and
testimony of witnesses, as well as the production of documents from Federal employees and agencies. This provision is necessary to assist OSC in determining whether
a servicemember is entitled to relief. This section also sets forth a streamlined and
more efficient process for enforcement of subpoenas against Federal executive agencies or their employees by order of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Explicit authority under Title 38 to issue subpoenas to Federal employees and agencies
will assist OSC in protecting rights of servicemembers.
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF
PARALYZED VETERANS
OF
AMERICA
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, and Members of the Committee, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) would like to thank you for the opportunity to
present our views on the broad array of legislation impacting the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) pending before the Committee. These important bills will help
ensure that veterans receive appropriate benefits in a timely manner.
S. 6, THE PUTTING OUR VETERANS BACK TO WORK ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 6, Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2013 which would
amend the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 to extend this career assistance program through March 31, 2016. This program is available for veterans that are unemployed and have exhausted other educational and career assistance benefits.
Since the start of the program, July 1, 2012, the number of veterans participating
in the program fell short of the anticipated enrollment. Although a large number
of veterans have applied and qualified for the program, many have not used the
program.
The VA and the Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) must increase outreach to the veterans that have applied for this program. A career counselor can help a veteran decide on the best application of this
program to compliment the job skills previously obtained in the military. After discussing options with a counselor, a veteran may decide not to use the program and
relinquish the certificate allocated for that veteran. Thus, allowing another veteran
to receive employment training.
The bill includes a requirement for the VA to establish a single Web-based employment portal for veterans to access this information. Additional outreach will be
needed to reach those veterans not dependent on the internet for their source of information. The VA should strive to fill every available slot for this unique program
to help unemployed veterans.
S. 200
PVA does not oppose S. 200, which would amend Title 38, United States Code,
to authorize the interment of individuals that served in combat support in the King-
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dom of Laos between February 28, 1961 and May 15, 1975 in cemeteries controlled
by the VA National Cemetery Administration.
S. 257, THE GI BILL TUITION FAIRNESS ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 257, the GI Bill Fairness Act of 2013. This legislation would
require public institutions to charge the in-state tuition and fees rate to veterans
who use the GI Bill at that institution when the veteran did not originally reside
in that state. Although many institutions have changed their policies to allow a veteran to attend a public institution at the instate rate, some continue charging veterans an out-of-state rate for those who once lived in another state before entering
service. This legislation will address this shortcoming.
S. 262, THE VETERANS EDUCATION EQUITY ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 262, the Veterans Education Equity Act of 2013, which would
assist veterans using the GI Bill that have been paying tuitions and fees above the
GI Bill amount designated for that state. Many veterans have accumulated thousands of dollars in debt for tuition and fees over the amount paid by the GI Bill.
This legislation will allow the veteran to continue in the program of their choice
without accumulating extra financial dept.
S. 294, THE RUTH MOORE ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 294, the Ruth Moore Act of 2013. According to reports, sexual
assault in the military continues to be a serious problem, despite several actions by
the Department of Defense (DOD) to combat the issue, including required soldier
and leader training. As the military works to reduce the threat and incident of military sexual trauma (MST), it is important that victims of MST, both women and
men, have the ability to receive care from the VA and receive timely, fair consideration of their claims for benefits. This is particularly important given the number
of MST occurrences that go unreported. While current policies allowing restricted
reporting of sexual assaults should reduce the number of incidents which have no
official record, it can still be anticipated that there are those who will not report
the incident out of shame, fear of reprisals or stigma, or actual threats from their
attacker. To then place a high burden of proof on the veteran, who has experienced
MST to prove service-connection, particularly in the absence of an official record,
would add further trauma to an already tragic event.
One particular recommendation that PVA would like to make about the proposed
language is a clarification of what constitutes a mental health professional. We
would hope that the intent of this legislation is not to limit mental health professionals to only VA health care professionals.
S. 373, THE CHARLIE MORGAN MILITARY SPOUSES EQUAL TREATMENT ACT OF 2013
PVA has no formal position on S. 373, the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses
Equal Treatment Act of 2013.
S. 430, THE VETERANS SMALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY AND PROTECTION ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 430, the Veterans Small Business Opportunity and Protection
Act of 2013. This legislation would recognize the surviving spouse of a deceased
service-disabled veteran who acquires the ownership interest in a small business of
the deceased veteran as such veteran, for purposes of eligibility for VA service-disabled small business contracting preference, for a period of 10 years after the veterans death. This 10 year continuation applies only if such veteran was either 100
percent disabled or died from a service-connected disability. In situations where the
veteran was less than 100 percent disabled and did not die from a service-connected
disability the eligibility will continue for 3 years. This 3-year period is necessary to
continue conducting business that has been awarded and under contract. This time
period allows the surviving spouse to develop plans for the future of the business,
or plan for the sale of the business.
S. 492
PVA supports S. 492, a bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to require
states to recognize the military experience of veterans when issuing licenses and
credentials to veterans without requiring additional training. This Federal legislation is necessary to encourage state license and certifying agencies to acknowledge
the years of training and performance veterans may have had in specific career
fields. Although some states have recognized this professional training and experi-
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ence provided by the Federal Government, most have not. This unwillingness to license or certify qualified veterans can burden the veteran with years of classroom
and on the job training before the veteran is allowed to work in a specific field with
full pay. This bill will require states to become more active in the process of certifying qualified veterans.
S. 495, THE CAREERS FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 495, the Careers for Veterans Act of 2013. This legislation combines several issues from other bills previously introduced in the Senate. Those
issues are surviving spouses ownership and continuation of receiving Federal contracts for a business that was owned by a service-disabled veteran, and the requirement of states to issues licenses or credentials in employment trades that a veteran
is qualified for and has received training and experience while in the military.
The bill also requires the Sectary of Labor to provide each veterans one-stop center with a list of Web sites and applications that are beneficial for veterans searching for employment. S. 495 also directs each Federal agency to development a fiveyear plan to hire qualified veterans with a total employment goal of 10,000 veterans
hired in the five year period. PVA supports this legislation and when it is fully implemented, it will help many veterans with their transition to the civilian work
force.
S. 514
PVA supports S. 514, a bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to provide additional educational assistance under the current Post-9/11 Educational Assistance
to Veterans programs, who are pursuing a degree in high-demand occupational
fields such as engineering, math, or an area that leads to employment in a highdemand occupation. This will eliminate the financial barrier that could arise as a
veteran pursues the field of their choice with a STEM focus (science, technology, engineering, or math). Often special programs of these educational fields may cost
above an individual states allowance of the GI Bill. This will accommodate veterans
who study in STEM fields.
S. 515
PVA supports S. 515, a bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to extend the
Yellow Ribbon G.I. Education Enhancement Program to cover recipients of the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry scholarship. This will allow public and private contributions for educational assistance to the child of an individual who dies
in the line of duty while serving on active duty on or after September 11, 2001.
S. 572, THE VETERANS SECOND AMENDMENT PROTECTION ACT
Regarding S. 572, the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, PVA has no
formal position on this legislation.
S. 629, THE HONOR AMERICAS GUARD-RESERVE RETIREES ACT OF 2013
Paralyzed Veterans of America supports S. 629, the Honor Americas Guard-Reserve Retirees Act. This bill incorporates veteran into the Guard and Reserve
community. PVA supports recognizing and honoring all servicemembers, Guard or
Reserve, for their faithful and honorable service in defending the United States of
America. Serving in a volunteer force should be credited to the servicemember, not
discounted through no fault of their own, because they were never activated.
S. 674, THE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 674, the Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013 which will require prompt responses from the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration and the National Archives and Records Administration when the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs requests information necessary to adjudicate benefits claims. It
is unfortunate that legislation is required in order for government agencies to
promptly provide information to adjudicate a veterans claim. PVA also supports the
reporting requirement that will allow better oversight and should identify trends in
timeliness of agency responses.
S. 690, THE FILIPINO VETERANS FAIRNESS ACT OF 2013
PVA has no official position on S. 690, the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act. That
being said, we have concerns about the provisions of the legislation that address the
$0.50-on-the-dollar benefit rate that has long been included in Title 38 U.S.C for
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non-resident Filipino veterans. It is our understanding that the legislation would
eliminate this benefit rate from statute. This rate was established to reflect the fact
that the standard-of-living in the Philippines is significantly less than in the United
States. This rate was determined to reflect equitable and fair compensation for Filipino veterans who served alongside U.S. veterans, but who are not U.S. citizens. We
see no reason why this rate should be changed (a position supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs in the past).
S. 695, THE VETERANS PARALYMPIC ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 695, a bill that would reauthorize the Paralympics program that
has partnered with the VA to expand sports and recreation opportunities to disabled
veterans and injured servicemembers. We believe that this has certainly been a
worthwhile program as the need for expansion of these activities is necessary. We
appreciate the role that the Paralympics have played in this expansion.
PVA believes that much progress and enhanced cooperation has resulted from the
Paralympics Program and its partnership with VA. Under this program, PVA has
witnessed improved coordination between our organization, USOC-Paralympics, and
other veterans and community-based sports organizations that has enhanced existing programs and advanced development of new programs in communities that previously had not been served. The overall performance of the partnership between
PVA, the USOC-Paralympics and the Department of Veterans Affairs has successfully produced an increased number of sports and recreation opportunities for disabled veterans.
S. 705, THE WAR MEMORIAL PROTECTION ACT OF 2013
PVA has no formal position on S. 705, the War Memorial Protection Act of 2013.
S. 735, THE SURVIVOR BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2013
PVA supports, S. 735, the Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013 to extend
the initial period for increase dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving
spouses, to extend benefits for children of certain Thailand service veterans born
with spina bifida, and conduct a pilot program on grief counseling for surviving
spouses of veterans who die while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces.
S. 778
PVA has no specific position on the proposed legislation that would allow the VA
to issue identification (ID) cards to veterans. While we can certainly see the merits
of veterans having IDs that specifically indicate their status, we wonder what
verification mechanism would be devised to determine whether or not a person is
in fact a veteran. Would the VA require a person to apply for the ID card and include a copy of his or her DD214 for verification purposes? We question whether
or not the VA can handle the additional administrative burden that might come
with implementation of this legislation.
S. 819, THE VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT FIRST ACT OF 2013
While PVA understands the concepts outlined in S. 819, the Veterans Mental
Health Treatment First Act, we oppose this proposed legislation. We believe that
this legislation tries to draw attention to a concept that the VA ought to be focused
on alreadythe health and wellness of sick and disabled veterans. But this focus
should not be at the expense of the veteran. We cannot argue with the importance
of proper and effective treatment to address the mental health issues that veterans
may face. However, we believe this legislation would simply force near term treatment on veterans in order to save the VA, and by extension the Federal Government, money paid out in compensation in the long term.
First, we would point out that the legislation calls for a pre-evaluation of the
veteran exhibiting symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to determine if the condition might be related to his or her service. This implies a step the
disability claims process should already be taking. Furthermore, it calls for the Secretary to prescribe regulations dictating what constitutes a relationship to military
servicea concept already addressed in Title 38 U.S.C. and the Code of Federal
Regulations.
Second, the legislation requires the veteran to delay his or her right to file a claim
while participating in the program. While we can certainly see the benefit of a veteran participating in a comprehensive treatment program, we see no reason why he
or she should not still be able to file a claim concurrently. Otherwise, the process
simply is delayed a year. And while we understand the argument that a veteran
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would receive a stipend under this program, we do not believe that this is an acceptable method of offsetting the broad range of benefits, along with compensation, associated with adjudication of a claim. Furthermore, depriving a veteran of his or her
entitlement to compensation may actually have the unintended effect of providing
a financial disincentive to participate in rehabilitation and treatment.
S. 863, THE VETERANS BACK TO SCHOOL ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 863, the Veterans Back to School Act of 2013. This legislation
will repeal the current time limitations on the eligibility for use of educational assistance and extend eligibility to 10 years after the veteran starts using the program. Section 3 of the bill Veterans Education Outreach Program would authorize
funding to institutions of higher learning to establish an office for a veterans education outreach program. To participate in the program an institution must have a
minimum of 50 veterans enrolled and match the funding amount provided by the
VA from non-Federal funds. Upon passage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Secretary
Shinsekis public remarks were that he was pleased that young veterans can now
attend the finest colleges and universities in the Nation. Our challenge (the VAs
and the learning institutions) is to insure they stay in school. This new group of
students, many returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, are non-traditional students
with non-traditional issues and problems. This legislation should provide on-campus
counseling for veterans by veterans, along with support and assistance. The function
of fostering communication among veteran students may be the key that helps veterans address this next chapter of life after the military.
S. 889, THE SERVICEMEMBERS CHOICE IN TRANSITION ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 889, the Servicemembers Choice in Transition Act of 2013.

S. 893, THE VETERANS COMPENSATION COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 893, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act

of 2013, that would increase, effective as of December 1, 2013, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) for the survivors of certain disabled veterans. This would include increases in wartime disability compensation, additional
compensation for dependents, clothing allowance, and dependency and indemnity
compensation for children.
While our economy continues to struggle, veterans personal finances have been
affected by rising costs of essential necessities to live from day to day and maintain
a certain standard of living.
S. 894
PVA supports S. 894, a bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to extend expiring authority for work-study allowances for individuals who are pursuing programs of rehabilitation, education, or training under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to expand such authority to certain outreach services provided through congressional offices.
S. 922, THE VETERANS EQUIPPED FOR SUCCESS DURING TRANSITION ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 922, the Veterans Equipped for Success Act of 2013. This legislation creates a comprehensive employment program that will benefit many veterans by getting them started in the work place, or helping some get back into the
workplace. The three year pilot program will enroll 50,000 eligible veterans. The VA
will designate the cities, minimum of four geographic areas, which will be available
for this program based on veterans unemployment rates for an area. The program
will provide living wages for the veteran with medical care provided by the VA. The
legislation specifies that the veteran worker should not be used in place of a fulltime employee, or to replace a full time employee that is out on sick leave or has
left the organization. This program will be a large undertaking for the VA and the
Department of Labor along with helpful oversight from Congress. Employment programs for unemployed veterans have been created in the past, but for various reasons were not successful or properly funded. In this period of a slow economy, this
can be a program of tremendous importance for helping many veterans learn job
skills and eventually get into the workforce.
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S. 927, THE VETERANS OUTREACH ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 927, the Veterans Outreach Act of 2013. With the large number
of veterans currently in the United States, and the expectation that this number
will increase with the current drawdown of the military, outreach becomes critical
to ensuring those who have earned benefits are aware of their availability.
However, PVA is concerned with funding the grants for the outreach. Too often
additional programs are required of VA with no additional appropriations being provided. It would be unfortunate if Veterans Outreach suffered similarly. While there
is a requirement for state entities to provide 50-percent matching funds, grants are
provided to other entities including non-profits. With the current restrained fiscal
environment, PVA is concerned that this will be another good idea that is never fulfilled due to funding shortfalls.
S. 928, THE CLAIMS PROCESSING IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2013
PVA generally supports the current draft of S. 928, the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013 with a few concerns. First, Section 103 requires that the
Secretary shall not make fewer than two attempts to obtain the records, which
may be interpreted by VA that they are only required to make two attempts. This
may also permit a decision that only one attempt is necessary if a second would be
futile. This wording provides a great deal of subjectivity to the VA in an area that
they have been continually challenged to improve.
With regards to Section 201, understanding that the purpose of this legislation
is to reduce the backlog, PVA is not supportive of legislation that abridges due process in any way. PVA believes proposing a shorter filing period for Notices of Disagreement from 1 year to 6 months is unacceptable. A year gives the veteran the
time to obtain any additional evidence to support the claim, particularly if it is a
severely disabled veteran who can often face long hospital stays or rehabilitation.
Seeking additional medical information can be a lengthy process. Furthermore, the
good cause exception to the proposed 180-day period could actually result in much
more dispute and litigation because of the broadness of the accepted circumstances
of physical, mental, educational and linguistic limitation. There may be an alternative that would allow claimants to waive the longer filing period if they are sure
the needed medical information can be quickly obtained.
PVA supports Section 202 with regards to video conferencing. As long as there
is the ability to request an in-person hearing that the Board would be required to
honor, we believe this will benefit both the claimant and the Board. At the Veteran
Service Organization forums held by the Board, there has been an ongoing emphasis
on holding video conferences whenever possible to reduce time lost for no-shows. Additionally, the grant rate for video versus in-person hearings is the same. In fact,
PVA has encouraged service officers to hold video conference hearings and the vast
majority of PVA hearings are now held via video conference.
Under Section 305 paragraph (c), the proposed legislation supports PVAs position
on the Accepted Clinical Evidence Initiative. We are concerned VA may downplay
the effectiveness by under-reporting it. The single 15-month pilot took place only at
the St. Paul Regional Claims office, which doesnt have a significant backlog, reducing the likelihood of large amounts of data to report. PVA believes VA should have
to expand the pilot before reporting on it to allow examination of its true efficacy.
Large urban areas or rural areas would benefit most. For example, as of May 6,
2013, St. Paul has 9,553 veterans waiting, with 2,447 waiting more than 125 days
and 346 waiting more than one year with an average wait time of 110 days. This
is compared to Houston with 36,044 veterans waiting, with 26,331 waiting more
than 125 days and 14,480 waiting more than one year with an average wait time
of 419 days; or San Diego with 28,467 veterans waiting, with 19,435 waiting more
than 125 days and 7,666 waiting more than one year with an average wait time
of 319 days.
S. 930
PVA has no formal position on S. 930.

S. 932, THE PUTTING VETERANS FUNDING FIRST ACT OF 2013
PVA is pleased to see this legislation put forward by Sen. Begich and fully supports it. This legislation, similar to H.R. 813, the Putting Veterans Funding First
Act of 2013, introduced by House Committee on Veterans Affairs Chairman Jeff
Miller (R-FL) and Ranking Member Mike Michaud (D-ME), requires all accounts of
the VA to be funded through the advance appropriations process. It would provide
protection for the operations of the entire VA from the political wrangling that oc-
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curs as a part of the appropriations process every year. We would also like to see
the Committee consider legislation similar to that introduced by Representative
Brownley in H.R. 806, the Veterans Healthcare Improvement Act that permanently establishes the Government Accountability Offices reporting requirements as
a part of VA advance appropriations.
S. 935, THE QUICKER VETERANS BENEFITS DELIVERY ACT OF 2013
PVA supports S. 935, the Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013. PVA
has consistently recommended that VA accept valid medical evidence from non-Department medical professionals. The continuing actions of VA to require Department
medical examinations does nothing to further efforts to reduce the claims backlog
and may actually cause the backlog to increase.
S. 938, THE FRANCHISE EDUCATION FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2013
PVA supports the draft legislation Franchise Education for Veterans Act of 2013
which would amend Title 38, United States Code, to allow certain veterans to use
funding from educational assistance provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs
for franchise training. Many veterans are using their Post-9/11 GI Bill to begin, or
continue their education to prepare for future careers. This unique benefit will help
hundreds of thousands of veterans as they complete their education and move into
career positions in government or private sector. For those that choose not to attend
college, owning a business franchise can allow a veteran to provide for themselves
and their families. Since every franchise has a training program to prepare the future business owner for achieving success, PVA supports the concept of using the
veterans earned benefit, Post-9/11 GI Bill, to help pay for this valuable and required training. The VA should require certain standards of a training program and
a history of the parent corporations success in their field of business along with a
pattern of successful franchises. This scrutiny of the training and a review of the
business plan of the franchise would be necessary to eliminate organizations that
obtain their profits from selling franchises rather that providing a product or service
that has a market demand.
S. 939
PVA fully supports this legislation. The claims process is significantly complicated
and it is noted that VA often does not properly forward the Notice of Appeal to the
Board. This legislation will permit a Notice of Appeal incorrectly sent to VA instead
of the Court to be considered as a motion for reconsideration by the Board. This is
the fair thing to do where the intent of the veteran clearly was to appeal.
PVA would once again like to thank the Committee for the opportunity to submit
our views on the legislation considered today. Enactment of much of the proposed
legislation will significantly enhance the benefits services available to veterans, servicemembers, and their families. We would be happy to answer any questions that
you may have for the record.
S. 944, THE VETERANS EDUCATIONAL TRANSITION ACT OF 2013
As with S. 257, PVA supports S. 944, the Veterans Educational Transition Act
of 2013. Because of the unique nature of military service, Veterans deserve an instate tuition and fees rate when using the GI Bill at public institutions even when
the veteran did not originally reside in that state.
PVA would once again like to thank the Committee for the opportunity to submit
our views on the legislation considered today. Enactment of much of the proposed
legislation will significantly enhance the health care services available to veterans,
servicemembers, and their families. We would be happy to answer any questions
that you may have for the record.
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PREPARED STATEMENT
OF
RELIGIOUS ACTION CENTER
OF
REFORM JUDAISM
PREPARED STATEMENT OF RESERVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES

AND RESERVE ENLISTED ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES
INTRODUCTION
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Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, the Reserve Officers Association (ROA) and the Reserve Enlisted Association (REA) would like to thank the
Committee for the opportunity to submit testimony. ROA and REA applaud the ongoing efforts by Congress to address issues facing veterans and serving Reserve
Component members such as veteran status, employment challenges, improvements
to the education program, claims processing and more.
297
Reservists are unique as veterans; warriors who, when separated from active
duty, are still subject to recall. This creates a different set of challenges for this
group, atypical from nonaffiliated veteran concerns.
Though contingency operations in Afghanistan are winding down, currently there
are still high levels of mobilizations and deployments for Guard and Reserve members, and many of these outstanding citizen soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and
Coast Guardsmen have put their civilian careers on hold while they serve their
country in harms way. As we have learned, they share the same risks as their counterparts on the battlefield in the Active Components. Over 875,000 Guard and Reserve servicemembers have been activated since September 11. Of these one-third
have been mobilized two or more times. The United States is creating a new generation of combat veterans that come from its Reserve Components (RC). It is important, therefore, that we do not squander this valuable resource of experience, nor
ignore the benefits that they are entitled to because of their selfless service to their
country.
Yet there is a group of serving Reserve Component members who have prepared
these war veterans, who are not recognized as veterans themselves. Many of these
Guard and Reserve members dont qualify for veteran status, because their active
duty periods are not long enough. ROA and REA thank the Committee for including
Senator Pryors bill S. 629, Honor Americas Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2013,
to be included in this hearing.
Unfortunately, unemployment continues to run about 10 percent higher for younger Guard and Reserve members than for non-affiliated veterans. ROA and REA
would like to work with this Committee to develop employment solutions that would
focus on this age group.
ROA and REA endorse S. 629 (Pryor), S. 6 (Reid), S. 257 (Boozman), S. 262 (Durbin), S. 294 (Tester), S. 430 Heller, S. 515 (Brown), S. 572 (Burr), S. 674 (Heller),
S. 695 (Boozman), S. 705 (Burr), S. 735 (Sanders), S. 819 (Burr), S. 893 (Sanders),
S. 894 (Sanders), S. 922 (Sanders), S. 927 (Sanders), S. 928 (Sanders), S. 863
(Blumenthal).
The Associations dont necessarily object to legislation that is excluded from this
list.
RESERVE ASSOCIATIONS AGENDA SUMMARY
Employer Support:
Continue to enact tax credits for health care and differential pay expenses for
deployed Reserve Component employees.
Provide tax credits to offset costs for temporary replacements of deployed Reserve Component employees.
Support tax credits to employers who hire servicemembers who supported contingency operations.
Employee Support:
Permit delays or exemptions while mobilized of regularly scheduled mandatory
continuing education and licensing /certification/promotion exams.
Seek a credentialing process to recognize military skills
Continue to support a law center dedicated to USERRA/SCRA problems of deployed Active and Reserve servicemembers.
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)/Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA):
Improve SCRA to protect deployed members from creditors that willfully violate
SCRA.
Fix USERRA/SCRA to protect health care coverage of returning servicemembers
and family for pre-existing conditions, and continuation of prior group or individual
insurance.
Encourage Federal agencies to abide by USERRA/SCRA standards.
Ensure USERRA isnt superseded by binding arbitrations agreements between
employers and Reserve Component members.
Make the states employers waive 11th Amendment immunity with respect to
USERRA claims, as a condition of receipt of Federal assistance.
Make the award of attorney fees mandatory rather than discretionary.
Veterans Affairs:
Calculate years of service for disability retired pay for Reserve Component
members wounded or injured in combat under section 12732 of U.S.C. Title 10.
Extend veterans preference to those Reserve Component members who have
completed 20 years in good standing.
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Make permanent Reserve Component VA Home Loan Guarantees.
Eliminate the 3/4 percent fee differential between Active Component and Reserve Component programs on VA Home Loan.
Support burial eligibility for deceased gray-area retirees at Arlington National
Cemetery.
Continue to seek timely and comprehensive implementation of concurrent receipt for disabled receiving retired pay and VA disability compensation.
INCLUDING RESERVE RETIREES WHO HAVE EARNED VETERAN STATUS
Many Guard and Reserve servicemembers have served admirably for 20 plus
years and qualify for retirement without having been called to active duty service
during their careers. The Pentagon estimates there are just under 290,000 in this
group. At age 60, they are entitled to Reserve military retired pay, government
health care, and other benefits of service, including some Veterans benefits. Yet
current law denies them full standing as a Veteran of the Armed Forces. Both ROA
and REA support Senator Pryors bill S. 629, Honor Americas Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2013 to correct this injustice. It is the right thing to do!
Reserve Component members, as defined in law, who have completed 20 or more
years of service are military retirees and eligible once reaching 60 years of age for
all of the active duty military retiree benefits. Conversely they are not considered
to be Veterans if they have not served the required number of uninterrupted days
on Federal active duty (defined as active duty other than for training). Yet over 20
years they have sacrificed much in family and civilian employment opportunity and
at a minimum have served more than seven years on duty over weekends and annual duty.
Serving Reserve Component members focus on numerous things such as the mission at hand, the job, training and development, the troops, going where needed,
and other responsibilities, but not much thought is given by individuals to making
sure they had the right kind of duty orders to qualify as a Veteran upon retirement.
Those Reserve Component members that have been called to serve in Operation
Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation New Dawn have undoubtedly qualified as Veterans. Yet, there are many others who stand in front of
and behind these men and womenpreparing them and supporting themindividuals that are also ready to deploy but because of their assigned duties may never
serve in that capacity. Nevertheless they serve faithfully.
Twenty or more years of service in the Reserve forces and eligibility for Reserve
retired pay should be sufficient qualifying service for full Veteran status under the
law.
This issue is a matter of honor for those, who through no fault of their own were
never activated, but served their nation faithfully for 20 or more years.
Hurtles
Seemingly, the biggest hindrance to passing S. 629 to grant Veterans status, is
the misconception that passage would have unintended consequences, causing this
group of Veterans to receive benefits that they would not otherwise qualify for. The
pending legislation would change the legal definition of Veteran so that proper acknowledgment and recognition that comes with the designation of veteran would
be made. BUT it would NOT change the legal qualification for access to any
benefits.
Each veteran benefit has a different set of qualifications because each was created
at a different time. Every time Congress passes new legislation that is signed into
law authorizing new Veteran benefits, the eligibility requirements are determined
for that specific benefit. Veteran status depends on which Veteran program or benefit you are applying for. Thus S. 629s language does not generate unintended
consequences.
Some have suggested moving such language out of Title 38. If that were to happen, a specific group would be classified as second-class veterans. Such a result
would not grant these admirable men and women the honor they deserve for their
20 years plus service, but denigrate it.
No Cost
Reserve Component members with 20 years or more service without qualifying
consecutive active duty time, will not be given special access to Veterans Affairs
(VA) disability rating. Currently if they are injured while on military orders in the
line of duty, they are already eligible for a VA disability rating and VA health care.
In the majority of circumstances these individuals will have other full-time employment in the private sector or as a civilian government employee. Therefore almost all have health care insurance through their employer, and have no need to
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rely on VA health benefits. Upon reaching 60 years of age they will be eligible for
TRICARE, and at age 65 for TRICARE for Life.
REDUCING GUARD AND RESERVE UNEMPLOYMENT
Employers view USERRA as a negative incentive and would like to see positive
encouragement to hire veterans. Reauthorizing the VOW to Hire Heroes Act is a
good step, but does not address the problems faced by Guard and Reserve members.
For younger Guard and Reserve members unemployment continues to run at about
10 percent higher than non-affiliated veterans. For the most part those between 18
to 24 years old are from the Reserve Component, who in April had an unemployment rate over 14 percent.
After 10 years of war, employers are more comfortable hiring unaffiliated veterans, than those who could be recalled to active duty and with a future risk of an
operational call-up once every five years. It is just easier not to hire Guard and Reserve members.
While this may be a violation of the USERRA, stealth discrimination can easily
occur if you do not tell the Reserve Component veteran that their military career
is why they were not hired. Additional positive incentives are needed for this group
of veterans.
Notwithstanding the protections and antidiscrimination laws in effect for veterans
and serving members, it is not unusual for members to lose their jobs due to time
spent away while deployed. Sometimes employers are going out of business, but
more often it is because it costs employers money, time, and effort to reintroduce
the employee to the company.
Incentives of various types would serve to mitigate burdens and encourage businesses to both hire and retain Reservists and veterans. Examples include providing
employersespecially small businesseswith incentives such as cash stipends to
help pay for health care for Reservists up to the amount DOD is contributing. Small
businesses are more likely to hire Guard and Reserve veterans if they could afford
to hire temporary replacements. A variety of tax credits could be enacted to provide
such credit at the beginning of a period of mobilization or perhaps even a direct subsidy for costs related to a mobilization such as the hiring and training of new
employees.
Small Business hiring of Guard and Reserve members
Deployment of Guard and Reserve members has the hardest impact on small businesses. Such businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and are expected to do the majority of the hiring in the near future. The Small Business Administration defines a small business (depending on the industry) as a business
with fewer than 500 employees. A micro-business is defined as having fewer than
10 employees.
ROA and REA support initiatives to provide small business owners with protections for their businesses while a Reserve Component employee is on deployment.
Employer care plans should be developed in a way that will assist with mitigation
strategies for dealing with the civilian workload during the absence of the servicemember employee and lay out how the employer and employee would remain in contact throughout the deployment.
If a Reserve Component small business owner is killed in the line of duty, ROA
and REA support legislation that would extend veteran entitlements to the surviving spouse as long as she or he maintain a controlling interest.
Recognition of Active Duty experience for civilian employment
There is an ongoing challenge on how to convert military skill sets into credited
experience that would be recognized by civilian employers and provide longevity
credit during a licensing or credentialing process. Cross-licensing/credentialing
would ease the burden of having to acquire new licenses/credentials in the private
sector after having gained experience to perform such duties during military service.
ROA and REA encourage the implementation of certifications or a form that
would inform employers of skills potential veteran and servicemember employees
gained through their military service.
The Associations are concerned about suggested language that would require no
less than 10 years of experience in a Military Occupation Specialty before such certification could be earned. Many active duty contracts are of a much shorter duration, and experience should not be measured by a calendar. Like educations institutions that provide accreditation for military professional experience, state tests
should evaluate the amount of experience of an individual.
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EDUCATION
Education improves a veterans chance for employment, and many returning combat veterans seek a change in the life paths. There is still room for more improvement in the Post-9/11 GI Bill that in the long run can make the program more effective and increase utilization.
Issues that student veterans have raised to ROA and REA in which we recommend include the following:
Seek in-state tuition for non-resident veterans
Establish dedicated and well-trained officers for student veterans to speak with
via a call center.
Allow institutions to give more funds to students with stronger merit and needbase under the Yellow Ribbon Program.
Extend Yellow Ribbon Program to Fry scholarship recipients.
Align the VAs work-study program for students to work as guidance officers at
their institutions to aid other student veterans, to be matched up with institutions
academic calendar.
Safeguard and implement a long term plan for sustaining the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
Ensure transferability benefits are protected.
Guarantee that any future changes to the program that could have negative
effects on benefits will grandfather in current beneficiaries.
Pass legislation to disallow institutions including benefits in need-based aid formulations.
Transferring jurisdiction of Montgomery GI Bill for Selected Reserve to Veteran
Affairs committees.
One of the most significant problems that link all issues pertaining to the Post9/11 GI Bill is the lack of effectively trained customer service representatives. One
of the many examples came from two of our members that are married, both serving
in a Reserve Component. They wanted to transfer their benefits to their children,
but were told that only one parent can register the children in the DEERS system
and therefore only one of the parents could transfer the benefits. After going
through a couple back channels ROA found out that the couple needed to go to a
DEERS office and request an administrative account for the purposes of transferring benefits.
There are many stories similar to this one which causes unnecessary stress on
the families, some of whom give into the system and give up the benefit because
either they are given incorrect and/or incomplete information or the hassles involved
are not deemed worthwhile.
It is absolutely necessary that our servicemembers, veterans and families have
the ability to access accurate and timely information. ROA and REA urge Congress
to insist on the VA and education institutions to properly and effectively train their
personnel.
CONCLUSION
ROA and REA appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony. ROA and REA
look forward to working with the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on solutions
to these and other issues. We hope in the future for an opportunity to discuss these
issues in person with committee members and their staff.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF CAROLYN W. COLVIN, ACTING COMMISSIONER,
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Thank you, Chairman Sanders, for giving me the opportunity to discuss S. 674,
the Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013. I appreciate this opportunity to discuss
several ways in which we help the men and women who have served our Nation.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) historically and proudly has been a cando agency. The services we provide to our Nations veterans illustrate our deep
commitment to assisting those in need. I applaud you, Senator, for leading the Committees efforts in helping the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) improve the
processing of disability compensation applications.
For my statement today, I will focus specifically on the provision in the S. 674
that would require covered agencies, including SSA, to provide VA with information
necessary to process a VA claim within 30 days after such information is requested
by VA. The vast majority of the information we provide VA is medical records that
we gather during the processing of the veterans claims for Social Security disability
benefits.
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While the purposes and eligibility criteria for VA and Social Security disability
programs differ significantly, the process of determining disability in both programs
hinges on medical information provided to adjudicators. Thus, we recognize that
having complete and timely medical records is vitally important to both programs.
We are proud of the work that we are doing with VA to help ensure veterans get
the benefits due them, and we greatly value our mutually beneficial partnership
with VA.
In March, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified before this Committee on VAs disability compensation claims process. In its testimony, GAO created the impression that we do not promptly reply to the requests for medical
records that we receive from VA. That impression is simply wrong. As the data
show, we place a high priority on the requests we receive from VA and work very
hard on responding to them timely.
In FY 2012, we received nearly 33,000 requests for medical evidence from VA. On
average, we responded to those requests in less than a week. We currently have no
pending requests that are older than 90 days. For the first quarter of fiscal year
2013, we received over 9,600 requests for medical evidence from VA. On average,
we responded to those requests in less than a week, with only four cases taking
longer than 60 days, and we responded to all of them in less than 90 days.1 Moving
forward, we should be able to comfortably and consistently meet the requirement
in S. 674 if it were enacted. However, even without a statutory requirement, I can
assure you that we will continue to work hard to assist our Nations veterans and
VA.
We have taken several steps to ensure that we continue to respond timely to VAs
requests. We centralized our process in our National Records Center (NRC) in Independence, Missouri. The NRC receives all requests and provides all records. If the
requested records are in a paper file located in a different facility, the NRC requests
the file, photocopies the medical records from it, and sends them to VA. By completely centralizing our process, we have greater control over these requests and ensure timely responses to all of them. We have also established processes to expedite
Agent Orange and homeless veterans cases; on average, we send these records in
two days or less from the date we receive the requests.
We also maintain good and regular communications with VA about requests for
information. SSA had previously asked VA to follow up on requests for medical
records after 60 days, but that timeframe was recently reduced to 20 days for a first
followup and 35 days for a second followup. Finally, we developed a tracking system
to ensure that we do not overlook a single case and have designated a staff person
to serve as VA liaison in our NRC facility. Our NRC liaison tracks status and folder
location for any request over 35 days old and explains any delays to VA.
We continue to work with VA to streamline the medical records request process.
For example, we collaborated with VA to establish the Veterans Administration Regional Office (VARO) Project. Currently, five VARO sites participate in the project.
The VARO Project uses a web-based tool that allows VA staff to communicate securely and directly with us. This automated tool significantly improves efficiency.
We participate in weekly and monthly conference calls with VA headquarters personnel to discuss record requests, including any problems we have encountered and
any improvements that can be made to the process.
Our involvement in VAs disability compensation claims process extends beyond
supplying medical records. Through numerous verification and exchange agreements, we also provide VA with verification of names and Social Security numbers,
information about Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits, employer reports of earnings from our Master Earnings File, and indicators of death
reports and prisoner data. VA uses these data for ensuring eligibility and accuracy
of VA payments. Recently, we have implemented changes to increase the frequency
of the earnings data exchanges from annually to weekly at the request of VA.
Again, thank you for your work on these important issues and for this opportunity
to describe the ways we help Veterans. We are proud of our efforts to reach out to
the men and women who have served this Nation. We think our partnership with
VA is very effective. By working together with Congress, we believe both agencies
will continue to make substantial progress toward providing the world-class service
that our veterans deserve.
1 The current delays in processing VA requests are due to situations in which there are paper
files that need to be mailed from another SSA location, such as a local field office or hearing
office, to the NRC. As we have shifted from paper to electronic files, any delays should be further reduced as we can access electronic files instantaneously.
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PREPARED STATEMENT OF MICHAEL DAKDUK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
STUDENT VETERANS OF AMERICA
Thank you for inviting Student Veterans of America to submit written testimony
regarding pending legislation intended to increase support for military servicemembers and veterans.
Student Veterans of America is the largest and only national association of military veterans in higher education. Our mission is to provide military veterans with
the resources, support, and advocacy needed to succeed in higher education and
after graduation. We currently have over 800 chapters, or student veteran organizations, at colleges and universities in all 50 states that assist veterans in their transition to and through higher education. SVA chapters are organized as four-year
and two-year public, private, nonprofit, and for-profit institutions of higher learning.
This diverse and direct contact gives SVA a unique perspective on the needs and
obstacles faced by our Nations veterans as they utilize education benefits in preparation for their future transition into the civilian workforce.
S. 257, GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013:
The Post-9/11 GI Bill pays the highest in-state tuition and fees. Due to military
obligations, many veterans are unable to establish in-state residency for the purposes of enrolling at a public university or college. Ultimately, this becomes a financial burden that leaves veterans vying for additional financial aid due to out-of-state
residency status.
This proposed bill would make all student veterans eligible for in-state tuition at
public colleges and universities, regardless of their residency status, eliminating the
need for veterans seeking a post-secondary credential to find full-time employment
or accrue student loan debt while attending a public institution.
The protocol for establishing residency for tuition purposes varies across the spectrum of higher education, leaving many recently-separated veterans unable to satisfy strict requirements due to their service in another state. Nuanced policies and
variability between states and university systems are highly complex and penalize
veterans with stringent residency requirements they are unable to fulfill due to
their honorable military service.
According to a state-by-state landscape analysis conducted by our organization, 12
states already offer in-state tuition to veterans, 8 states offer conditional waivers
to veterans under particular circumstances, and another 16 states are currently considering similar legislation.
State leaders from both sides of the aisle have recognized the financial and social
benefits veterans bring to their communities. Not only do student veterans diversify
the landscape of higher education by bringing their unique experiences and perspectives to public campuses, but many veterans will pursue careers within the same
state post-graduation.
Veterans who choose to attend public schools, but are unable to qualify for residency status should not have to shoulder the burden of additional tuition fees. We
are proud to be working with the American Legion on a state-by-state initiative to
see in-state tuition granted to all veterans. We are also very proud to be aligned
with both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in seeing
this issue resolved in Congress. We recognize that veterans served our Nation in
its entirety, not just one state, and as such we hope to see veterans provided the
opportunity to use their educational benefits in all states without discrimination.
SVA fully supports S. 257 and hopes the Committee moves quickly to pass this
legislation.
S. 262, Veterans Education Equity Act of 2013:
SVA would like to thank Senator Durbin for his attention to the inequity existing
within the Post-9/11 GI Bill. While we support the intention of this bill, which seeks
to address the same issue as S. 257, we cannot support this legislation.
In an attempt to offset decreasing revenues due to state budget cuts, public colleges and universities have significantly raised the cost of out-of-state tuition. Some
institutions have inflated out-of-state tuition to over 300% of the in-state tuition
rate, forcing student veterans who are unable to meet residency requirements to
fund their education through other means of Federal financial aid, student loans,
or full-time employment.
S. 262 proposes to increase compensation received by non-resident veterans attending public colleges and universities.
SVA stands in agreement with the VFW that it would be irresponsible to place
additional financial burden on VA and the American taxpayer when we know these
schools can deliver a quality education at the in-state rate, and stand with the
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American Legion in that S. 262 would encourage inefficiency within the higher education system. SVA thanks Senator Durbin for his serious consideration of the issue
and looks forward to working with him to support student veterans.
S. 492, a bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to require States to recognize
the military experience of veterans when issuing licenses and credentials to veterans, and for other purposes:
This bill ensures that professional military personnel have the opportunity to sit
for licensing exams, allowing veterans the opportunity to successfully translate their
military expertise and effectively integrate into the civilian workforce.
SVA stands with VFW and the American Legion in support of this legislation.
S. 495, Careers for Veterans Act:
SVA supports S. 495, which incentivizes the private sector to hire and retain veterans, provides veterans with Federal employment opportunities, and extends additional protections for surviving spouses of veteran entrepreneurs.
S. 863, Veterans Back to School Act of 2013:
Currently, veterans have 10 years upon separation from the military to use their
Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) benefit. Military veterans are nontraditional students,
and often do not enter a higher education environment immediately after military
service. In fact, many nontraditional students start and stop school at various times
during their academic careers. By initiating the MGIB clock once the veteran begins
using the benefit, we provide these nontraditional learners with a better opportunity
for academic success and ultimately post-graduation employment. Additionally,
these veterans have made financial contributions to the MGIB. They made the investment to better themselves through higher learning and we have an obligation
to honor that investment.
SVA is also pleased to see a veteran outreach component to this bill. By providing
institutions of higher learning with support to increase outreach efforts, student veterans will ultimately be better served. Programs and services dedicated to veterans
on campus are absolutely critical to retention, graduation, and post-graduation employment.
S. 514, a bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide additional educational assistance under the Post-9/11 educational Assistance to veterans pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering, math or an area that leads
to employment in a high-demand occupation, and for other purposes:
This bill stands to provide additional financial support to student veterans pursuing a degree in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math, or an area
that leads to employment in a high-demand occupation. SVA has long supported the
intent of such legislation, seeing as the demand for jobs in these fields are high and
veterans, with their unique experiences and training, stand to significantly contribute to these industries.
Because high tuition costs and long paths to graduation are often associated with
these degrees, SVA supports giving the Secretary the discretion to distribute additional funds to student veterans participating in such programs as deemed appropriate.
S. 6, Putting Our Veterans Back to Work:
SVA supports this bill, which focuses on transitioning recently-separated veterans
and student veterans into the civilian workforce through an extension of the VRAP
program and additional protections under the Uniformed Servicemembers Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
S. 430, Veterans Small Business Opportunity and Protection Act of 2013:
SVA supports this bill, as well as similar language in S. 495, that would allow
survivors of veteran entrepreneurs to continue operating their business as if the entity remained veteran-owned. We encourage the Senate to take swift action on this
either as stand-alone legislation or through S. 495.
S. 515, a bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the Yellow Ribbon GI
Education Enhancement program to cover recipients of Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry scholarship, and for other purposes:
As it stands eligible dependents of a servicemember killed in action are excluded
from additional educational benefits through the Yellow Ribbon Program. S. 515 will
provide Fry Scholarship recipients the same benefits as other Chapter 33-eligible
beneficiaries. SVA stands with the VFW and American Legion in strong support of
this legislation.
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S. 894, a bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend expiring authority for
work-study allowances for individuals who are pursuing programs of rehabilitation, education, or training under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to expand such authority to certain outreach services provided
through congressional offices, and for other purposes:
Although SVA did not have adequate time to review the text of S. 894, we do offer
our support of the legislations intention to extend expiring work-study allowances
for individuals pursuing programs of rehabilitation, education or training. Many
student veterans use the work-study program as a supplement to pay for their bills
and other costs not covered by primary VA educational programs. SVA strongly supports the VA work-study program.
Draft bill, a bill to provide in-state tuition to transitioning veterans:
SVA did not receive a draft of this bill in time to offer comment; however, we believe that S. 257 is the appropriate and comprehensive way to offer equitable funds
to veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
SVA was not provided the text of the following legislation in adequate time to review and offer comment:
S. 674, Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013
S. 893, Veterans Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013
S. 928, Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013
S. 922, Veterans Equipped for Success During Transition Act of 2013
Draft bill, Veterans Outreach Act of 2013
SVA finds the following bills outside the scope of our mission and does not wish
to offer comment at this time:
S. 200, a bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the interment in
national cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration
of individuals who served in combat support of the Armed Forces in the Kingdom of Laos between February 28, 1961, and May 15, 1975, and for other purposes.
S. 294, Ruth Moore Act of 2013
S. 373, Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2013
S. 572, Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act
S. 629, Honor Americas Guard-Reserve Retirees Act of 2013
S. 674, Accountability for Veterans Act of 2013
S. 690, Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2013
S. 695, Veterans Paralympic Act of 2013
S. 705, War Memorial Protection Act of 2013
S. 735, Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013
S. 748, Veterans Pension Protection Act
S. 819, Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act of 2013
Thank you Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, and distinguished Members of the Committee for allowing Student Veterans of America to present our
views on legislation focused on supporting veterans, military servicemembers, and
their families.
PREPARED STATEMENT
OF
SERVICE WOMENS ACTION NETWORK

Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony for the
record and thank you for your continued leadership on veterans issues and for convening this hearing today.
The Service Womens Action Network (SWAN) is a non-profit, non-partisan veterans led civil rights organization. SWANs mission is to transform military culture
by securing equal opportunity and freedom to serve without discrimination, harassment or assault; and to reform veterans services to ensure high quality health care
and benefits for women veterans and their families.
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We challenge institutions and cultural norms that deny equal opportunities, equal
protections, and equal benefits to servicemembers and veterans. SWAN is not a
membership organization, instead we utilize direct services to provide outreach and
assistance to servicemembers and veterans and our policy agenda is directly informed by those relationships and that interaction.
SWAN extends opportunities to and promotes the voices and agency of service
women and women veterans without regard to sex, gender, sexual orientation or
gender identity or the context, era, or type of their service.
SWAN welcomes the opportunity to share our views on two bills before the Committee today: S. 294 the Ruth Moore Act of 2013; and S. 373 the Charlie Morgan
Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2013.
S. 294
SWAN strongly supports S. 294, the Ruth Moore Act. Veterans who are partially
or fully disabled from an injury suffered while serving in the military are entitled
to disability benefits. Currently VA policy requires a veteran applying for disability
benefits to demonstrate three things: A diagnosis of a medical or mental health
issue; Proof that an event (stressor) happened while in the service; and a link between the stressor and the medical/mental health issue, provided by a VA examiner.
The Ruth Moore Act allows a statement from the survivor to be considered sufficient
proof that an assault occurred.
SWAN has been advocating for changes to the VA claims process for several
years. We actively supported the 2010 change to the claims process for PTSDclaims related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity and have provided testimony many times to both House and Senate committees on issues and challenges
facing women veterans at both the VHA and VBA, and the unique challenges faced
by veterans filing Military Sexual Trauma (MST) claims.
According to VA, PTSD is the most common mental health condition associated
with MST. For women veterans, MST is a greater predictor of PTSD than combat.
Studies also indicate that sexual harassment causes the same rates of PTSD in
women as combat does in men. And 40 to 53% of homeless women veterans have
been sexual assaulted while in the military. The Committee should also be aware
that this is not just an issue for women veterans, but that many men suffer from
the effects of military sexual violence. According to the Department of Defense, 12%
of all unrestricted sexual assault reports are made by men. Simply put, MST has
negatively affected the entire veterans community.
Veterans who suffer from the debilitating effects of Military Sexual Trauma face
unique challenges in obtaining disability compensation from the VA. In 2011, SWAN
and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a Freedom of Information Request with the VA for data on MST claims. The data obtained through litigation
showed that during FY 2008, 2009 and 2010, only 32.3% of MST-based PTSD claims
were approved by VBA compared to an approval rate of 54.2% of all other PTSD
claims during that time. As a point of comparison, data obtained by Veterans for
Common Sense indicates that 53% of Iraq and Afghanistan deployment related
PTSD claims through October2011 were approved.
Looking more deeply at the MST data, SWAN discovered that among veterans
who had their MST- PTSD claims approved by VA, women were more likely to receive a 10% to 30% disability rating, whereas men were more likely to receive a 70%
to 100% disability rating.
These findings indicate that veterans who file a PTSD claim based on MST have
only a 1 in 3 chance of getting their claim approved. Also, data suggests a strong
gender bias in VAs MST PTSD disability ratings process.
SWAN has presented our data to the VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and to the
Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey and asked for changes to VA regulations on MST claims. After a series of conversations with SWAN, Undersecretary
Hickey decided not to change the regulation, but instead issued a memo in
June 2011 providing further guidance to claims officers and instituting training requirements for processing MST claims. However, examination of both the letter and
the training revealed it simply reinforced the existing regulation which places a double standard on MST claimants. Recently VA has released statistics that show a
near miraculous increase in MST claims approvals, presumably due to this training
memo. Both SWAN and the New York Times have asked to see the data behind
these numbers and VA has refused to provide it.
Additional responses from VA on this issue have not been adequate either. At a
House Veterans Affairs subcommittee hearing in 2012, VA admitted that their current regulation had not been applied properly by claims officials and stated they
would be sending letters to previously rejected MST claimants to offer to re-adju-
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dicate their claims, but after a year this has not been accomplished. Most recently
Allison Hickey testified before Congress that VA was designating one person, specifically a woman, in each regional office as the sole reviewer of MST cases. This
action by VA clearly demonstrates the inadequacies of their 2011 guidance memo
and training efforts and reveals more of VAs MST gender bias in adjudicating MST
claims. SWAN is extremely concerned that this action will create a bottleneck or
MST claims, increasing delays in adjudications and creating larger issues for the
overall claims inventory and backlog crisis.
The regulation has to change. Even with secondary markers the current language fails veterans for a variety of reasons. First, sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military are notoriously under-reported. According to the Pentagons
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO), 86.5% of sexual assaults
go unreported, meaning that official documentation of an assault rarely exists. Second, prior to the new evidence retention laws passed in the 2011 National Defense
Authorization Act, the services routinely destroyed all evidence and investigation
records in sexual assault cases after 2 to 5 years, leaving gaping holes in MST
claims filed prior to 2012. Last, the allowance for secondary evidentiary described
in the regulation does not take into consideration the reality that many victims do
not report the incident(s) to anyone, including family members, for a variety of legitimate reasons, including shame, stigma, embarrassment, or disorientation associated with sexual trauma.
Additionally, although sexual assault increases the chance of adverse emotional
responses and behaviors, it does not mean that all MST claimants will experience
these symptoms. In fact, SWAN has spoken to many assault survivors who demonstrate changes in behavior that are not included in the regulation, such as improved job performance as a means of coping with the trauma.
In the MST community, the failures of the VA claims process are well known.
SWAN has spoken with veterans who suffer PTSD related to both MST and combatwhat veterans cynically call the double whammy. These veterans chose to
abandon their MST claims and submit a claim only for combat related PTSD, as
they felt their combat claim was more likely to be approved, and that the uphill battle to file an MST claim wasnt worth the agony.
It is well past time for VA to admit that the current MST claims process is broken. VAs PTSD policy discriminates against veterans who were sexually assaulted
or harassed while in uniform by holding them to an evidentiary standard which is
not only higher than that of other groups of veterans suffering from PTSD, but also
completely unrealistic for the majority of survivors to meet. It has not been able to
train its way out of this issue by enforcing a bad regulation, and VAs recent responses to the crisis are creating more problems than they are solving.
It is not enough for Congress just to tell VA to improve the regulation. It must
specifically state what needs to be done. VA has proven they cannot do this on their
own, they need the help of Congress. Ask any MST survivor and they will tell you
that the only way to fix this problem is to change the regulation, and that is what
the Ruth Moore Act does.
S. 294, the Ruth Moore Act of 2013 amends the current regulation so that it correctly makes the determination of entitlement to service-connected compensation for
the resulting disability from the in service trauma a question of medical diagnosis
and not question of evidence, it maintains the existing requirements for a proper
medical diagnosis, stressor evidence and VA examination, it ends the veterans endless quest for hard-to-find secondary markers, and prevents MST survivors from
being further re-traumatized by an adjudication process which implicitly questions
the veracity of the reported in-service personal assault in the first place.
S. 373
SWAN strongly supports S. 373, the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal
Treatment Act of 2013. This bill would change the definition of spouse in four
areas of U.S. Code related to recognition, support, and benefits for married servicemembers and veterans. The changesincluding to provisions in Titles 10, 32, and
38 would ensure that spouses of the same gender are eligible for key military benefits. The bill adds a favorable controlling definition of spouse to Title 37 to provide
greater uniformity of benefits for same-sex spouses.
Importantly, the bill extends dozens of important spousal benefits and support
programs to same-gender spouses, including coverage under TRICARE insurance,
an increased housing allowance and survivor benefits, and it closes the benefit gaps
left after the limited extension of same-sex spousal benefits signed by former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
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Since the repeal of Dont Ask, Dont Tell there have been two classes of servicemembers in this countryone that receives the Nations full recognition, support
and benefits and one that does not. The law as it currently stands perpetuates this
second-class solider syndrome which harms all servicemembers, prevents commanders from taking care of their troops and weakens the force. The integration of
openly gay servicemembers into the military has been seamless and they continue
to serve our country well. It is well past time to welcome the spouses and families
who support them into the ranks as well.
Again, we appreciate the opportunity to offer our views on these very important
bills and we look forward to continuing our work together to improve the lives of
veterans and their families.
PREPARED STATEMENT
CHARLIE HUEBNER, CHIEF OF PARALYMPICS, UNITED

STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
OF
S. 695, THE VETERANS PARALYMPIC ACT OF 2013
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, and Members of the Committee, my

name is Charlie Huebner and I am the Chief of Paralympics, for the United States
Olympic Committee (USOC). Thank you for the opportunity to submit a statement
and testify before this Committee in support of S. 695, which extends the authorization for the highly successful, innovative and cost effective partnership between the
USOC and the Department of Veteran Affairs to provide Paralympic sports and sustainable physical activity opportunities for disabled veterans at the community
level.
I would like to thank the sponsors of this legislation, Senators Boozman and
Begich, as well as the co-sponsors who sit on this Committee, Senator Murray, the
former Chairman, and Senators Tester, Hirono, and Johanns. I would also like to
acknowledge are partner organizations that have worked so hard with the USOC
and the VA to make this program a success. S. 695 is supported by national organizations such as the American Legion, BlazeSports America, the Blinded Veterans
Association, Disabled Sports USA, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America,
the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the USO and the National Recreation and Parks
Association, as well as by hundreds of local, community-based organizations such as
Bridge II Sports in Durham, North Carolina, Challenge Alaska, and Greater Metro
Parks in Tacoma, Washington. A letter of support from these organizations, among
others, is attached as Exhibit A.
Paralympic programs are sports for physically disabled athletes. It was founded
and exists because of Veterans from World War II. Research has proven that
Paralympic sport and physical activity is an impactful aspect of successful rehabilitation for disabled Veterans.
Research-based outcomes from consistent physical activity for disabled Veterans
include higher self-esteem, lower stress levels and secondary medical conditions and
higher achievement levels in education and employment.
At the beginning of U.S. combat operations, the USOC expanded its service to injured members of our Armed Forces and Veterans by providing training, technical
assistance and Paralympic ambassadors to installations and military medical centers. As combat escalated, Congress reached out to the USOC asking for us to do
more!
I applaud the leadership in Congress, which realized that collaboration between
the public and private sector, between Government agencies, non-profit organizations, and the private business sector could expand expertise and capabilities, and
program awareness in a cost effective manner.
The legislation you created in Fiscal Year 2010, allowed the USOC and VA to significantly grow the capabilities and reach of physical activity programming to thousands of disabled Veterans today in communities throughout America. Since 2010,
the cumulative number of veterans served has been over 16,000. We estimate that
annually up to 5,000 veterans are being served by our partner organizations, and
we have made it a priority to increase the numbers of veterans we reach through
this program.
The authorization for this program expires at the end of Fiscal Year 2013. It is
imperative that Congress act to extend the authorization for this program to ensure
there is no interruption in the services being provided to our disabled veterans, and
just as importantly, develop enhanced programming in collaboration with the private sector where there are significant needs.
The USOC, which itself was created by Congress, is one of only four National
Olympic Committees that manage both Olympic and Paralympic sport. We are one
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of only a handful of National Olympic Committees that are 100% privately funded,
with our major competitors outspending us often as much as 5-to1. Innovation, collaboration and cost efficiencies are core to our organizational success and critical to
this continued USOC and VA partnership.
Injured military personnel and Veterans are the soul of the Paralympic movement. When discussing the Paralympic Movement, we have two primary objectives.
One: pursue excellence at the Paralympic Games. As a result of Paralympic Veteran
role models and ambassadors such as Navy Lt. Brad Snyder, Army Veteran Melissa
Stockwell, and Marine Veteran Oz Sanchez, the USOC and VA have been able to
reach millions of Americans with stories of Veteran achievements and excellence.
Second, and more importantly, the VA and USOC collectively have reached thousands of disabled Veterans and their families with stories of hope, and a roadmap
to being healthy, productive and contributing members of society.
With partners such as PVA, IAVA, Disabled Sports USA and USA Hockey to
name a few, the VA and USOC have created significant, sustainable and cost effective regional and local physical activity opportunities for disabled Veterans to pursue competitive excellence, but most significantly, for a majority of the thousands
of physically disabled Veterans in the US these opportunities are ways to simply
re-engage into society by being physically active with their sons, daughters, families,
and friends.
It is as simple as skiing with your buddies again, or as one double amputee Army
Ranger stated I want to be able to run with my son.
This Committee, Congressional leaders, and Veteran and Military organizations
asked the USOC to lead this effort due to our powerful, iconic, and inspiring brand;
our expertise in physical activity and sport for persons with physical disabilities;
and our significant infrastructure of member organizations. We have accepted the
responsibility and opportunity to serve those who have served us. And because of
your leadership in developing and providing funding for this USOC and VA partnership, we are able today to report the first phase of significant program success and
expansion in less than three years of this legislation. Since June 2010, the VA and
USOC have:
Distributed more than 350 grants to community sport organizations to develop
sustainable physical activity programs for disabled Veterans returning to their
hometowns.
These community programs are investing millions of dollars in private resources, combined with grants from the VAUSOC grant pool, to reach thousands
of Veterans with a focus on sustainable and consistent physically activity at the
local level.
The VA and USOC have emphasized and led an effort to promote collaboration
between the DOD, VA and community sport organizations to recognize and enhance
programmatic and financial efficiencies. To date, grant recipients have collaborated
and partnered with 85 VA medical centers in 39 states and military treatment facilities across the country.
Created the Paralympic Resource Network, an online database of Paralympic
programs nationally which is designed to link individuals with physical and visual
disabilities to sports programs in their communities. There are now 340 organizations listed. This is over 35% more than the targeted goal of 250 organizations.
Created consistent national and regional training, technical assistance and
sharing of best practices to expand availability of sustainable programming at the
community level.
Distributed training stipends to over 115 Veteran athletes; 43 of these athletes
have met the national team standard in their respective sports.
Implemented regional and national public relations and communications strategies resulting in major national media campaigns and news stories that have
reached millions of Americans with stories of Paralympic Veterans as national
ambassadors.
Significantly expanded and implemented, accountability and oversight processes
that include USOC-led internal audits of grantees, upgraded reporting and monitoring of sub-grantees, consistent USOC site visits and weekly USOC-VA grant
monitoring calls.
Two staff members implementing this program are individuals with physical
disabilities, one being a Veteran.
Humbly, we work for an organization that has one of the most inspiring brands
in the world. A brand that motivates people and organizations to get involved and
to collaborate. I cant emphasize the collaboration point enough, because collaboration also leads to significant cost efficiencies and impact!
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Today, more than 350 USOC partner organizations in 46 states and the District
of Columbia are investing millions in private resources, staff, and facilities to cost
effectively implement these programs. As part of our commitment to deliver services
in the most cost efficient manner possible, the USOC has not accepted the 5% allowance for Administrative Costs and has instead contributed its own administrative
resources to maximize funding.
One specific new example of USOCVA innovation, impact, cost-efficiency, collaboration and enhanced awareness was the development of the regional and local
Valor Games series in Chicago. Through partnership with a USOC leadership organizationWorld Sport Chicagothe USOC and VA identified a partner that could
plan, implement, provide a majority of the funding and promote the importance and
impact at a regional event for physically disabled Veterans with the primary objective and outcome being the connecting of these Veterans to everyday physical activity programs in the region. This was done with limited VA-USOC financial investment and only one USOC staff and one VA staff member involved.
In closing, the need in this Country is great. More physically disabled members
of our Armed Forces are returning to Americas communities, urban and rural, as
heroic Veterans. Many of them are simply trying to reintegrate with their friends
and families. Some want to compete. The power of sport is one tool in the rehabilitative process that allows for our Nations heroes to take a small step to normalcy.
Research has proven that!
I would like to thank the Committee, the VA leadership, particularly Secretary
Eric Shinseki; Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers, Mike Galloucis, Executive Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Public and Intergovernmental
Affairs; I would like to especially commend Marine Veteran and VA leader Chris
Nowak, a physically disabled Veteran who is driving change in collaboration with
the VA and USOC with a primary focus on impacting Veterans in a cost effective
manner. Mr. Nowak is a Marine Veteran making a difference!
I can simply say that you have led a collaborative and cost effective effort. You,
too, are making a difference. A difference in the lives of those that have given our
Nation so much!
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EXHIBIT A
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USOCExh2.eps

Senate Hearing, 113TH Congress - Hearing On Pending Benefits Legislation

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S. HRG.

HEARING ON PENDING BENEFITS LEGISLATION

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

JUNE 12, 2013

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans Affairs

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

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Sanders, Hon. Bernard, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Vermont ........................ 1,

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Butterfield, Hon. G.K., U.S. Congressman from North Carolina; prepared

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HEARING ON PENDING BENEFITS

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BERNARD SANDERS,

Chairman SANDERS. Good morning. We are going to begin this

Senator SCHATZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Tester,

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Senator MURKOWSKI. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Thank you for

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HON. LISA MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATOR

BILL TO AUTHORIZE THE INTERMENT IN NATIONAL CEMETERIES UNDER THE

Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, Distinguished Members of the Senate

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Armies: CIA and Surrogate Warfare in Laos

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Report 106563Hmong Veterans Naturalization Act of 2000.

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Chairman SANDERS. Thank you very much Senator Murkowski.

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Senator WYDEN. Thank you very much, Chairman Sanders and

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Senator MERKLEY. Thank you very much, Chairman Sanders and

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Senator SHAHEEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Senator

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Chairman SANDERS. Senator Shaheen, thank you very much.

Senator TESTER. If I might, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I thank

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Chairman SANDERS. I recognize that today is a really busy day.

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